For the Pure and the Sinners
by sessha-chan
Summary: A battleweary Kagome has moved away from Tokyo in order to escape the youkai after her. But there's somethign about this Village that doens't quite seem like normal... KakaKago.
1. Begin Anew

Disclaimer and warning: I don't own anything from this story but the plotline. Inuyasha and Naruto characters belong to other people, not me. I write for the fun of it and if you don't like my work just remember that I'm not making you read this. Please keep flames to yourself. Compliments are welcome. Criticism is a little pointless because I'm not going to go back and edit anything in this.

Please enjoy the fruits of my labour.

* * *

**For the Pure and the Sinners**

Annamarie Couch

**Chapter 1**

Begin Anew

Kagome locked the door of her tiny three-tatami apartment behind her. Today was her first full day in this new city, this city that was nowhere near the Bone-eater's Well. She smiled and pocketed her keys, feeling both very cheerful and very lonely. This was the first time in her life, other than when she had first fallen down the well, that she would be completely on her own.

Her apartment building was not in the best of shape, nor was it in the worst, so she was not complaining too much since the rent was a fair price and she did not really need all that much space. The only window in her rented room looked out at a sea of buildings that had seen better days. It was a far cry from her home shrine but Kagome was determined to start a new life without evil youkai or power-hungry villains after the sacred jewel she protected and purified on a daily basis. Strange to think that constant danger and threats to your well-being and health wore on you after a while. Strange indeed...

She greeted a middle-aged woman in the hall. The lady nodded and smiled back at her as she passed. Kagome made her way outside into the morning sunlight, a sheaf of papers held loosely in one hand, her purse in the other.

"Good morning," She smiled at an old man sitting just outside the door. He looked up from a shogi board.

"Hello young lady," he smiled back, "Could I interest you in a game?" he gestured to the board before him. Kagome declined apologetically.

"I'm sorry, I have to find a job," she explained, "Could we play some other time? I would really like to but I just can't right now,"

"Ah, don' worry about it, little missy," he waved it off. Kagome apologized again and jogged down the street.

Now to start a day of Job Hunting.

First stop was a cute little flower shop she had spotted the day before when she was moving in. The man behind the counter was a pleasant, chubby brunet with interesting facial tattoos named Akimichi Choji, who Kagome got along with famously. They chatted for the better part of half an hour and he assured Kagome that he would give her resumè to his wife's parents, who owned the shop.

"Are you new to Konohagakure, Higurashi-san?" he asked. Kagome nodded, smiling brightly.

"I just moved here yesterday," she admitted, "is it that glaringly apparent?"

"Well," he grinned, "I've just never seen you around before. You look to be about my age so I was surprised that I didn't recognize you. After a while you'll be able to pick out the natives of Konoha,"

"Oh? Is there something that sets you apart from the rest of the world?" she asked humorously and arched an eyebrow.

"You'll find out soon enough," he said mysteriously, "But a word of advice, don't pick any fights, even with the kids, and don't wander around by yourself after dark,"

"Choji, could you help me out here?" a feminine voice called from the back of the shop. Choji excused himself and poked his head into the back room to see what was needed of him. He returned carrying a large display of flowers with an elegantly slender blonde woman trailing behind him. After depositing the flowers where the woman dictated he introduced Kagome to his wife, Akimichi Ino. Ino, dusting her hands off on an apron, smiled and bowed. Kagome bowed as well.

"Are you new in Konoha?" Ino asked. Kagome laughed a little, scratching the back of her head nervously.

"Yes I am," she nodded, "I just moved here yesterday an I'm trying to find a job. How could you tell?"

"Well," Ino eyed her up and down, "I don't recognize you and you look to be about my age,"

"I take it everyone here knows everyone else their age?" Kagome sighed, sounding just a little defeated. Ino and Choji laughed.

"Well, yes," Ino grinned. "Don't worry about it, there's nothing you can do about it. If you stick around long enough you just might learn to fit in like a native,"

"Almost," Choji corrected kindly, "_Almost_ like a native,"

"Where are you living?" Ino asked. Kagome told her and the woman considered.

"That's the same building as Naruto, isn't it Choji?" she finally said. Choji nodded slowly.

"I think so,"

Kagome was confused. "Who's Naruto?"

"Naruto is a friend of ours and one of the people in the running to be the next leader of Konoha," Choji explained. Kagome nodded.

"I'll arrange for you two to meet. If you have any problems you can talk to him," Ino decided, "He's a bit of a loudmouth and a moron sometimes but you can't find anyone any more trustworthy than him,"

"CHOJI! INO!" a blond ball of energy burst through the shop doors, narrowly missing colliding with both the displays and Kagome.

"Speak of the devil," Ino frowned, "Naruto how many times have I told you not to run into the shop like that?"

"Sorry Ino but this is important!" Naruto said excitedly.

"What is it Naruto?" Choji asked.

"Fuzzy Brows and Sakura are going out!" he said, practically bubbling with barely restrained humor. Ino almost fell over.

"Forehead-girl and the bug-brows?" she exclaimed. Something twigged in Kagome's memory but she could not quite place it.

"Rock Lee? And Sakura-kun?" Choji sounded as if he couldn't quite believe it.

"Wait," Kagome interrupted, "Rock Lee? Skinny guy with thick eyebrows and a bad haircut? Always talking about the passion of youth?"

"You know him?" Naruto asked, finally noticing her presence, "Who are you?"

"Me? I'm Higurashi Kagome. I just moved into town yesterday. Apparently we live in the same building,"

"Really?" Naruto grinned, "That's great! I'm Uzumaki Naruto and I'm gonna be the next Hokage!" he declared.

"Hokage?" Kagome was confused. Ino and Choji sighed.

"Calm down Naruto, you're going to scare her," Choji said, waving a hand at the overly exuberant blond, "Kagome, the Hokage is the, well, the leader of the village,"

"Oh," Kagome nodded.

"So how do you know Lee?" Ino asked, intrigued.

"He's my cousin," Kagome shrugged. "I didn't think I'd hear of him so soon but I can't say I'm surprised. He's one of those people, you know,"

"Trust me," Ino grinned, "We know,"

"How do you know him?"

"We went to the academy together," Naruto stated.

"Academy?"

"Ninja school!"

Kagome stared at him. "Ninja?" she said blankly, "You're a ninja?" She eyed his bright orange jacket warily.

"You better believe it! I'm the best ninja there is!"

Somehow she didn't feel convinced.

"Much as I hate to admit it," Ino came to his defense when it was glaringly apparent that Kagome did not believe him, "Naruto is ranked among the most powerful of the village's fighters,"

"I can see that much," Kagome murmured, her miko senses extending towards the blond. There was a pool of restrained youki around his abdomen, the likes of which she had never felt before in her life. Naruto stepped back, a hand going to cover his stomach defensively.

"Miko?" he asked quietly. Kagome looked up into his sky blue eyes, her dark sapphire eyes twinkling.

"I am. Don't worry, I won't do anything to you unless you force me to," she reassured him.

"That so?" he stepped forward again, looking her over with new respect, "And it looks like you're a pretty powerful one too,"

"I can hold my own," she shrugged.

Choji and Ino looked lost.

"Miko? What's so important about that?" Ino asked. Kagome apologized.

"Forgive me," she blushed, "I'm what is called a Traditional Miko. It's nothing much really and I'm pretty useless in a serious fight against humans because my gifts are geared towards youkai. Traditionally my job is to hold the balance between human and youkai but really all I do is pick off the bad apples who just like to fight and kill just for the fun of it,"

"Huh," Naruto grinned as if he had come to some internal agreement, "Seems like I can trust you,"

"That's a good thing," Kagome smiled brightly, "It's not my plan to make enemies here, I'm only looking for work,"

"A job, eh?" Naruto scratched his chin. Ino glared.

"Naruto, don't even think of it. You have no idea what would be decent work for a woman. No, Sakura and I will help Kagome-chan find a job," she declared. Kagome blinked at her, surprised.

"That's really not necessary, Akimichi-san," she protested. Ino put her foot down.

"No, it is. Trust me. There are some places you just don't want to go. And between me and forehead-girl we can get you working within the week,"

Kagome gave up and bowed to Ino's will with a meek, "Yes, ma'am,"

"Good," Ino beamed, "First things first, Naruto, Buy this girl some lunch, and _not ramen!_"

"What?" He protested, "Why me?"

"Because Choji and I have to watch the shop and you know where the restaurants are," Ino reasoned.

Naruto grumbled, but he caved and soon both he and Kagome were walking the streets of Konoha. Kagome noticed he looked pretty down. Talking a guess, she said, "Ramen isn't a problem with me,"

It must have been the right thing because suddenly he was charged and full of energy again, dragging her by the hand to his favorite ramen stand. The old man behind the counter greeted Naruto enthusiastically.

"Naruto! Where have you been?" he asked as Naruto sat down on one of the stools. Naruto grinned.

"Just got back from a mission," he declared. Kagome smiled, sliding quietly onto a stool next to the loud blond.

"And who's your friend?"

"Who? This?" Naruto gestured to Kagome. Kagome rolled her eyes, "This is Kagome. She just moved here and she's living in the same building as me,"

"Just moved here, eh?" he peered over the counter at her, "Where are you from, little missy?"

"Born and raised in Tokyo, sir," she answered promptly.

"Tokyo, eh?" he scratched his chin and started tossing together Naruto's usual, "That's a ways away from here. What brought you here?"

"I needed a change of scenery," Kagome shrugged, trying not to look uncomfortable.

"Naruto!" called a deep cheery voice. Naruto spun around on his stool. Kagome glanced over her shoulder to see who was speaking.

Her first thought was: why does he keep so much of his face covered?

"Kakashi-sensei!" Naruto exclaimed.

"Yo!" Kakashi waved his little orange book, coming closer, "Who's your friend, Naruto?" he asked, noticing Kagome. He slipped his book into one of his vest pockets. She twisted around to face the older man and smiled.

"I'm Higurashi Kagome," she introduced herself, bowing a little.

"Hatake Kakashi," he took her hand and pressed his masked lips to its back. Kagome blushed and tried to tug out of his grip. He did not let go. "You're not a ninja, are you?" he asked. Kagome shook her head. She did not even notice Naruto glaring at the tall sliver-haired man. "Strange to see Naruto hanging out with someone who's not shinobi," he mused.

"I take it you're a ninja as well," she hazarded.

"Got it in one," he grinned. Perhaps. She could not really tell what with the mask and all. But it sounded like he was grinning.

She tugged on her hand again. Still no luck.

"So you're Naruto-san's sensei?"

"One of them," he shrugged, perching himself on a stool next to her. He still had a firm grip on her hand. Kagome frowned.

"Can I have my hand back?" she finally asked.

Kakashi looked down at their still joined hands, surprised. He had not realized that he had not given her hand back. So, just a little sheepishly, he let go. Kagome cradled her returned hand to her chest protectively and ordered a small bowl of plain vegetable ramen. Kakashi watched her from the corner of his uncovered eye, noticing the deadly glare Naruto shot his way. He smiled at his former student and ordered his own bowl of ramen.

Naruto almost died of shock.

"What's wrong, Naruto-san?" Kagome asked, concerned when he didn't move for a full minute, chopsticks laden with noodles hovering not two inches from his open mouth. His eyes stared past her and she turned to see what was so interesting.

Kakashi picked up his chopsticks, fully aware of his audience. He was also aware of what was about to happen. He started to tug down his mask.

"NARUTO!" a ball of pre-teenaged energy hurled itself into Naruto's side, causing them to tumble painfully to the ground.

By the time Naruto had disentangled himself from a bubbling Konohamaru Kakashi had already put his chopsticks down with an appreciative "Gochisosama."

"Argh! What is it!" Naruto rounded on his young friend, frustrated that his chance at seeing his sensei's unveiled face was yet again so cruelly thwarted. Konohamaru, unruffled by Naruto's temper, brushed some dust off of his shorts.

"Did you hear about Sakura-chan and Lee? I always thought that she was too creeped out by Mr. Bug-brows to even get near him," he chattered. Kagome snorted into her ramen. Bug-brows, eh? Guess he still had not learned to pluck yet. She looked up and noticed that the girl who worked behind the counter was staring at Kakashi with hearts in her eyes. Guess she must have caught a glimpse of what lay beneath the mask.

"Girl," Kagome advised, pointing her chopsticks at her, "don't bet on a pretty face. More often than not they're nothing but trouble no matter where, no matter when. Trust me on this, I'm an authority, what with all the guys I worked with who had faces of gods. Seriously, you'd think it was something to do with species. Probably is, too," she sighed, pushed herself to her feel and paid for her meal. The girl looked surprised at Kagome's advice but Kagome paid it no heed. "You. Kid," she rounded on Konohamaru.

"Me?" he asked.

"You know where Lee is right now?"

"Yeah. Why?" he looked quite puzzled. Kagome nodded to herself, deciding something.

"Can you take me to him?"

"Sure, I guess," he looked vaguely at a loss as to what to do with the pretty woman demanding his services.

"Why do you want to see Lee-kun?" asked Kakashi, perplexed.

"To head my mother off before she can start nagging for me to check in on him," she shrugged. "The only reason she let me move this far from home was because I have a cousin here,"

"Lee-kun?" he guessed. She nodded.

"Father's side," was her only explanation before she rounded on Konohamaru, "Hey, you gonna take me to him today or should I just pitch a tent and wait for you to move?"

"Sorry, Ma'am," he squeaked, all of his ninja courage flying out the window for a reason beyond his comprehension.

"Don't be sorry," she frowned a little, "You're a ninja too, aren't you? Where's your pride? March, boy!"

The bewildered – and no little intimidated – Konohamaru eeped and scampered down the street, Kagome trailing close behind. Naruto and Kakashi watched both amused and just a little confused.

Kakashi pushed away from the stand, leaving a few coins on the counter next to his empty bowl and sauntered down the street. He had a meeting that should be almost over by now that he had to get to. It would be bad form for him to miss out on the tag end after all.

* * *

Kagome followed the intimidated boy though the unfamiliar streets with just a little wariness. This was a new city after all and she was already hopelessly lost and it hadn't even been two minutes! She really needed in invest in a map. 

"So was I right in my guess that you're a ninja too?" she asked. Konohamaru nodded.

"Yeah, but I'm only a genin right now. I'll be entering the chuunin exams this fall,"

"So," Kagome thought about it, "technically you're still in training, right?"

"No way! I'm not-" He cried, spinning around defiantly. Kagome stared down at him, hard.

"Don't lie to a miko. It's bad karma," she advised sternly. Konohamaru blushed but refused to say anything, his attention fixated on finding Lee and getting rid of this overbearing woman trailing behind him. She was just so creepy for some reason.

He hunched his shoulders a bit, feeling the weight of her stare boring into the back of his skull. He spread his senses out, searching for Lee's quite specialized chakra signature. It wasn't hard to find, and was surprisingly close. They turned a corner and Konohamaru waved.

"LEE! I brought someone to see you!" he called down the street. A couple people looked at him oddly but it was nothing to the looks they were going to have on their faces.

"Someone to see me!" Lee exclaimed in excitement, "Such is wonderful news! On this beautiful spring day it is my pleasure to live with the power of youth and-"

"Lee-kun," Kagome stepped forward, smiling a little, "Enough with the speech, please,"

Lee's jaw dropped. He didn't move. Kagome stared at him.

"What? What's wrong with you?"

"K-Kagome-chan? What are you doing here?" he stuttered.

"I just moved here," she shrugged, "and I figured I better look you up before mom reminds me,"

Suddenly she was tackled by an over enthusiastic cousin, and somehow they both ended up on the ground. Kagome groaned and pushed him off of her as he prattled on about how wonderful it was for her to be there and so on and so forth.

A chill ran up Kagome's spine and she glanced over Lee's shoulder. A pink-haired girl was standing there, fury in her eyes and cracking her knuckles dangerously.

"Lee," Kagome interrupted, her eyes not straying from the new girl, "Care to introduce your friend?"

Lee twisted about and an even brighter smile lit up his boyish face as he spotted his irate girlfriend. "Sakura-chan! You're just in time! This is my cousin, Kagome-chan. Kagome-chan, this is my girlfriend, Sakura-chan,"

"It's nice to meet you Sakura-san," Kagome smiled, pulling herself to her feet and dusting off her clothes, "I heard that Lee here had gotten a girlfriend, I hope you can take care of him,"

Sakura blinked as her previously perceived rival suddenly dropped in danger status. "Uh," she dropped her fists and blinked, "Nice to meet you,"

"The pleasure is all mine," Kagome grinned, "I hope we can get to know each other in the future,"

"You're Lee's _cousin_?" Sakura sounded quite confused. Kagome nodded.

"On our father's sides," she said as if that explained everything. Sakura nodded slowly.

"So you just moved to Konoha?"

"Yep!" Kagome chirped, scaring the bejeezers out of Konohamaru, "This is day one. I've been doing a little job hunting but for some reason I keep running into ninjas. I didn't even know that there were still so many ninjas around. It's kinda amazing,"

"Well," Sakura laughed, "You did move to a ninja village you know,"

Kagome's eyes widened, "Then don't tell me you're a kunoichi?"

"You better believe it! I've been apprenticing under the Hokage to be a Medicnin," Sakura said proudly. Kagome looked confused.

"Medicnin? Isn't that something of a contradiction?" she asked. Sakura blinked. "What's a Medicnin supposed to do? I mean, I understand the whole ninja bit but what does a Medicnin do?"

"First response, major surgeries. We're the combative doctors," She boasted, flicking her hair over her shoulder. "We're murder in a fight too,"

"Sakura-chan's going to be the best Medicnin in the world," Lee cheered her on. Sakura blushed a little and waved a hand.

"Well, I hope to be at least as good as Tsunade-sama,"

"Tsunade-sama?" Kagome was lost. That was the disadvantage, she was finding, of moving to somewhere new: you knew nothing.

* * *

Thankfully Kagome was able to find work with relative ease. She got a job at the local library cataloging books and scroll. The latter puzzled her since she had not heard of libraries keeping scrolls, much less scrolls that were open to the privileged public. But she did not let it bother her. After all, what was the point in dwelling on it? 

"Good evening, Miss,"

"Good morning, Hatake-san," Kagome corrected, "You're a couple hours late for it to be evening,"

Hatake Kakashi. Kagome did not understand – probably willing herself to be innocent of it – why he kept popping up whenever she was out.

Kakashi shrugged helplessly and deftly relieved her of her stack of books that she was bringing back to the library, "Looks like you were up all night again," he admonished. Kagome coughed lightly and blushed but did not deny anything. "Anything interesting?"

"Would you read them even if I recommended them?" she asked archly, fully aware of his preferences in literature.

"I might," he smiled winningly behind his mask.

Kagome shook her head. "Well, if the fancy takes you, _Foxfire and Jewels_ is an excellent read. I'm thinking about buying my own copy and maybe another copy for Mama. The author had a strange grasp of what happened during the last battle for a scared artifact that happened oh, about five hundred years back,"

"Is that so?"

"What are you doing up this early, Hatake-san?"

"Ah, well, you see there was this bird that knocked on my window--"

"Never mind," Kagome laughed. Kakashi smiled down at the little woman.

"It was quite the pretty little bird too," he insisted.

"I'm sure it was," she teased, "and I bet she sang you a pretty song too,"

"Actually she was fleeing from a nasty old tom cat and begged me for sanctuary,"

"I see," she nodded sagely, "And you, being the kind soul that you are, granted her asylum and protected her to the bitter end?"

"Of course!"

"Of course," Kagome nodded, agreeing. She tossed the masked jounin an amused smile, "And how are you doing today?"

"Since I've seen you? Wonderful,"

Oh, Kakashi was seriously starting to sound like Miroku with lines like that. Kagome had to stop herself from laughing at the similarities. It seemed that harmless perverts spanned professions from priest to ninja indiscriminately.

"And you, Kagome-chan?"

"Tired," she laughed, "But it's my own fault for staying up so late reading. Bad habit,"

"Very terrible. There should be some kind of 'Readers Anonymous,' shouldn't there?"

"I'll join if you do,"

Kakashi almost paused, wondering if she had heard about his little 'literature' addiction. It would have had to have been from someone other than him because he had never even produced the questionable material in her presence. For some reason beyond his understanding he felt that it would be… blasphemous… to allow any of the _Icha Icha_ series to come into Kagome's presence.

"Why should I join?" he asked innocently, fishing to see if she _did_ know about his little Adult Manga Addiction.

"Why not?" Kagome smiled, "I'm sure an intelligent man like you is a big reader too,"

"Right," Sure. Whatever. Kakashi did not believe a word of it.

"Ah," Kagome stopped, "Here's the library. Thank you for carrying my books for me," she accepted the stack and wished the jounin a good day, steeling herself for hours of shelving, categorizing and dealing with the patrons.

* * *

AN: Morning all! Sessha-chan here with another far-from-stellar piece of work. If you haven't caught on yet this is a Inuyasha/Naruto crossover. If you did notice that (by any means of observation) i give you a cookie! Here you go! Oi. Just a note on this particular fic: i am sick an tired of looking at it. There. It's out in the open. It's not that the story is bad. I kinda like it. But i worked on it for so long that i started twitching. And you know that that's not good. 

Anyways, ten points go to the person who can guess what the pairing for this romance is going to be. Mind you, i already have this 100 done and i ain't going to go back and change things so if you have any problems with it... please, PLEASE, keep them to yourself. I DON'T have a BETA, which is why this one took so long to edit. (I kept shoving it under my bed in disgust)

Well, enjoy anyways. :bows:


	2. Allies and Friends

Disclaimer and warning: I don't own anything from this story but the plotline. Inuyasha and Naruto characters belong to other people, not me. I write for the fun of it and if you don't like my work just remember that I'm not making you read this. Please keep flames to yourself. Compliments are welcome. Criticism is a little pointless because I'm not going to go back and edit anything in this.

Please enjoy the fruits of my labour.

* * *

**Chapter 2**

Allies and Friends

Kagome seemed to run into Kakashi often when she was out walking the streets. If she thought it to be strange she did not say a word to anyone. She was, however, seen quite often with Ino and Sakura, as the two kunoichi had taken it upon themselves to show her the ropes around Konoha, capital of the Fire Country. She even found a small shrine that was in need of a trained miko. They agreed that she would work there on weekends.

It was a month later, after meeting up with Lee and Sakura – who he was still dating – that Kagome had a wonderful idea.

"Lee-kun," she said one day over a cup of tea, "mind if I try an experiment on you?"

"An experiment?" Lee asked, swallowing the last of his tea in one gulp, "What kind of experiment, Kagome-chan?"

"Nothing dangerous," she assured, "I just want to try something to see if it would work on you. It worked on Souta,"

Lee did not even think over the proposition, agreeing with his sensei's famous 'nice guy' smile and thumbs up. Kagome hid her inward cringe with a bright smile. How on earth could she have a cousin this nerdy? Oh well, that did not matter. Too much.

"Great! Tomorrow at one of your training grounds? I don't know which one would be free so how about we meet up here around six. I'm off work by then," she suggested.

"Sounds wonderful, Kagome-chan," Lee declared, standing up, "I, Rock Lee, would be honored to be able to assist you in your youthful endeavors,"

Kagome patted his shoulder, standing as well, "Thanks Lee-kun, thanks. See you tomorrow. Say 'hi' to Sakura-kun for me," and with that she paid their bill and left the little café. With the ease of the city-born-and-bred Kagome melted into the crowds of people going about their business. Idly, she wondered how many of them were ninja and how many were just common civilians. What a surprise to find out that the city she had moved to was one of the largest, most influential ninja centers in the world. Not that ninja spread much further than the borders of Japan, but the point was the same.

She passed the library where she worked, tossing it a momentary baleful glare. Really, it was not that bad but after years of traipsing around the countryside fighting youkai kind of spoiled a girl for the more sedate side of civilian life. On the plus side, working at the library paid while wandering around the countryside did not. Usually.

She walked into someone, almost knocking her back. Large hands steadied her before she could fall.

"Hey, are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine," she nodded, looking up.

"Kagome-san!"

"Naruto-san! What are you doing here?" she exclaimed, surprised. Even though they lived in the same building and Sakura and Ino had ordered him to keep an eye out for her Kagome had not seen much of the blond kitsune-host.

"Heading out for a bite of ramen," he shrugged, "Iruka-sensei promised to take me out for a meal when I made captain and I got it last week. He's late,"

"Captain?" Kagome cocked her head to the side, not understanding. Naruto shook his head and waved her question aside.

"So how are things for you at the library? Lots of… books there, right?" he asked hesitantly, almost unsure. Kagome smiled.

"It's been just fine. Quite, but fine,"

"Quiet?"

"Well, let's just say that I'm used to more activity," she shrugged, "But you have to go and I have to buy dinner. I'll see you later?"

"Sure thing. Bye Kagome!" and he was off, waving over his shoulder. Kagome waved too before starting back down the street. She had found a cute little market just a couple of streets down from her building that she went to almost religiously. Already several of the shopkeepers recognized her by sight and one even had started flirting with her, not that she paid any attention to him. She was not ready for another romance in her life just yet. But she was ready for Italian pasta of any kind. She had a couple of cans of tomatoes at home, now all she needed was, well, everything else. Everything else and the pasta. Oi.

"Out shopping, Kagome-chan?"

"It is getting to that time of day, Hatake-san," Kagome shrugged, not turning around as she inspected a green bell pepper before purchasing it and moving on to zucchinis.

"What are you cooking?" he asked, peering into her basket at the assortment of fresh produce.

"Why? Want some?" she asked archly. The jounin just smiled. Well, she assumed he smiled since she could not see his mouth for his mask. "I'm making spaghetti, and you can come over if you want,"

"Don't mind if I do," he accepted gleefully. Kagome felt like shaking her head, but she settled for a smile. Honestly, what was it about this man that made her want to smile and laugh as she had not since… since before she left the shrine and the past.

"Good. If you have nothing to do then you can help me cook,"

Kakashi blinked. "But I can't cook," he protested weakly.

"You're a wiz with a knife, right? That's good enough for me," she argued, settling the debate before it even arose. She purchased a choice zucchini and moved on. Kakashi followed.

"So how was your day?" he asked after a long pause filled with silence.

"Boring. I'd never realized how… passive it is to have a peaceful life," she sighed, "Not that I'm complaining, I just think that I'm going to get horribly out of shape lifting books all day. It's just not what I had gotten used to, you know,"

"What's your idea of 'in shape?'" he asked, picking up a pea pod to inspect it.

"Oh, you know," Kagome shrugged indolently, "Being able to run for a couple of miles, being able to pull a bowstring a couple hundred times before my arm starts to burn and my aim fails. Stuff like that,"

"Only a couple hundred?" Kakashi asked, arching an eyebrow in amusement.

Kagome mock-frowned up at him, "Well, it's not like I was trained since before I could walk, unlike some people we know,"

"Guilty," he led up his hands in defeat, "so what spurred you onto archery?"

Kagome paused, hesitating, "Nothing much at the beginning. It wasn't until a little later that it became more important. And it was an easy way for me to channel my holy powers without intense training,"

"Ah,"

Kagome looked over at her jounin companion, "'Ah' what?"

"Ah, I understand," he clarified.

"Good," she eyed him warily, "After all, it wasn't like I _expected_ to have holy powers. They're rare as it is, even in my family. I was the only one with them until my younger brother started sparking whenever he was around…" she looked away, "whenever he was around a friend of mine,"

"I take it that your friend wasn't…"

"Wasn't fully human? Yes. He was half inuyoukai and a really sweet guy if you could get past all the bark and bluster," she smiled wistfully, "But he had a promise to fulfill and nothing else really mattered to him," she fingered a strand of hair, still smiling sadly, "He was a man of his word. I just hope he made the right choice, that's all,"

Kakashi wisely held his tongue. He carried Kagome's purchases and walked her home when she had finished shopping. He looked around her tiny apartment with mild amazement – probably at the very _idea_ that someone could live in a room so small. There was a little refrigerator, a hotplate with two elements, a folded futon, a low desk, a plain-looking sword propped up in one corner and a dresser. Spartan and small. He watched as Kagome pulled out a cutting board from behind the hotplate as well as two pots that had been stacked beside the dresser.

"Mind cutting up the veggies for me?" she asked.

The jounin looked around, at a loss, "Do you have a knife I could use?" he asked.

Kagome quirked an eyebrow at him, "A ninja without a knife on him? I'm shocked Hatake-san,"

"I hardly think a kunai would be appropriate for slicing vegetables," he said, amused. Kagome shrugged and fished a knife out for him to use.

"I've seen worse," she said, "When you've seen a powerful youkai sword used to cut firewood then you can talk about inappropriate uses for blades,"

Kakashi blinked, "Youkai… sword? What kind of sword is that?"

"A sword forged from the fang of a youkai by a Master Smith, also youkai. They are really very powerful. I have come across only four in all of my travels and I never want to be on the receiving end of any of them. Two of them because i know that they'd kill me in an instant and the other because it only works when you're dead,"

"Dead?" he looked up from the onion he was dicing.

"Yes. The Tenseiga is a sword that can resurrect a soul, providing that the body is intact. It belongs to a Taiyoukai who inherited it from his father in hopes that he would learn compassion," Kagome smiled, "It must have worked because he was able to bring a little human girl back to life after she had been savaged by wolves. You can put the onions in this pot when you're done," she said, motioning to the larger pot which she had heating with some oil on the hotplate.

"Thanks," Kakashi dumped the diced onions into the pot and watched as Kagome started stirring them so they would not burn. He got started on the peppers. "So why did a youkai bring a human back to life?"

Kagome thought about it, "He would never admit it, but I think it's because Rin-chan was the only person, human or youkai, that did not fear him. He claims that he was intrigued, whatever that is supposed to mean. But I guess I can't expect anything more from him, at least not at that time. Even bringing Rin back to life was a big step for him since Tenseiga would only work if he felt some sort of compassion for the one dead,"

"What about the fourth?" he asked. Kagome pointed to the sword in the corner.

"A gift. I can't use it, mainly because it's not meant for me to wield," she shrugged, "But if it's anything like the others it's more than impressive,"

"Not meant for you? What do you mean?" Kakashi looked up from his work.

Kagome's hands slowed down a little. "I don't think I'll ever find the one it's supposed to have wielding it. I don't think I can allow myself to drag anyone into the responsibility of having it," she sighed sadly. Kakashi let the subject drop.

"So, I take it that you know a lot about youkai?" he scraped the peppers into the pot as well.

"You could say that I'm something of an authority, I guess," she shrugged, opening a can of diced tomatoes and emptying it into the pot as well to simmer down. "It comes as something of a side effect for being the sort of miko I am,"

"And what kind of miko would that be?"

"Oh, you know, the 'run around the countryside to go and fight hundreds of low-class youkai just to protect a village' type. Nothing fancy just a lot of boredom with short intermissions filled with intense showers of youkai aimed straight for your head,"

"Sounds interesting,"

"Most of the time? Not. But I finished what I had to do and now I'm here trying to pick together a somewhat normal life. And with any luck the people of this village won't need my services too much," she smiled brightly. Kakashi nodded slowly. The look in her eyes, the look that was strictly banished from her bright smile, was one of a fighter who had seen too much. He knew that look all too well. It haunted his eyes more often than he would like.

"Would have been nice to have someone with your abilities around a couple decades ago," he murmured to himself.

"That attack," she sighed, nodding, "Sorry. I wasn't even born then but if I could have I would have helped. Even if just to spare Naruto-san the pain of being ostracized for something that was not even his fault,"

"You know about Naruto?" he looked up sharply.

"It was a secret?" Kagome blinked innocently, pausing in her stirring, "I'm sorry. It's just so obvious to me that I didn't even think about it, I'm sorry,"

Kakashi regarded the little miko thoughtfully.

"What? It's a miko thing. We're trained to sense youki anywhere. We have to in order to perform exorcisms and things like that," she insisted.

"I thought you said you never got trained,"

"Well," Kagome conceded, "not formally. I was kinda trained on the fly. Tossed headfirst into the fight and if I survived all well and good. If not, well, at least someone could tell my family. If anyone else survived that is,"

* * *

"So, Kagome-chan," Ino started, smiling slyly, "I hear you've been hanging around Hatake Kakashi a lot lately,"

Kagome blinked. Ino had invited her over for breakfast before she had to go to work at the library. She should have known that there was more to the invitation than what met the eye.

"What do you mean?" she asked innocently.

"Is something going on between you two?"

The little miko blushed, "Something going on between us? You have _got_ to be kidding!" she stammered, "Hatake-san is a good friend. I hardly even _know_ him, for crying out loud! And he's got to be at least ten years older than me,"

"So?" Ino arched a perfectly sculpted platinum eyebrow, "What does age have to do with it?"

"It… well…" Kagome could not seem to stop blushing as she tried to come up with an explanation. Nothing seemed to come to mind at the moment.

"You like him?"

Cherry, fire engine, dynamite, and tomato red; Kagome's face ran through all the shades.

"Hatake-san is a very good _friend_ and nothing more," she insisted.

"You know you suck at lying, right?"

Kagome settled her eyes on her hands, clasped on her lap, "Nothing will ever come of it, even if I _did_ like him as more than a friend. The life of a miko is not one that many people can adjust to. It's too dangerous,"

"Excuses," Ino waved a hand, "You think the life of a shinobi is any better?"

"And you want to try putting the two together?" Kagome asked wryly, amused despite herself, "May the thousand gods have mercy on our souls as we petition Enma-sama to judge fairly even as we pass into the control of Izanami, goddess of death and the land of darkness as a result of compounding the poor situation,"

Ino laughed, "You really are something, you know that Kagome? So what do you have planned for today? You're working, I know that but do you have anything planned for when you get off?"

"I'm meeting up with Lee-kun to run a diagnostic on him. Why?"

The blonde was deep in thought for a second or three before she answered, "Oh, no reason,"

"Right," Kagome clearly did not believe Ino for a scant second, "Anyways, I have to get going. Thank you so much for breakfast, Ino. You and Choji-san will have to come over for dinner sometime,"

"Think you can afford to provide what Choji eats?" Ino smiled, "I love the guy, but I know how much he eats and you're barely scrapping by as it is right now. Don't worry about it, although I'll probably hold you to tea some afternoon. Deal?"

"Deal,"

The two women shook on it.

* * *

"Just sit there and breath, Lee-kun," Kagome instructed, pacing around her cousin, "just breathe and let me do all the work,"

Lee sat on the grass in a small meadow with a sutra pasted to his forehead. The sutra confused him and Kagome admitted to herself that it made him look even stranger than normal. The bowl cut, the thick eyebrows (that Kagome still had not convinced him to pluck), and the sutra combined made for quite the interesting picture. If only she had a camera handy.

But back to the project at hand. Kagome stood before Lee, holding another sutra. She started chanting a quiet Buddhist prayer and clean, blue power blossomed around her. The sutra on Lee started glowing in response.

Sudden she stopped, rocking back on her heels.

"What's wrong, Kagome-chan?" Lee asked, worried.

"Nothing, Lee-kun, nothing. Congratulations, you've just been identified as the third living member of our family to possess holy powers,"

Lee blinked. Kagome waited for a reaction. Lee blinked again.

"What?"

"You, Lee-kun, have the power to hold the balance between youkai and human. You have what is called houriki, the power granted by Buddha and the gods to purify and protect," she explained patiently.

Lee sprang to his feet, joyous cries filling the air as he spouted off some nonsense about the power of springtime and the power of… no, wait. That was not right. Oh well. She was not listening anyways. Eventually she had to catch his arm and jerk him back to the ground.

"Listen up," she said seriously, "You have a decision to make now. You can train under me to gain control of these powers or you can let them lay latent,"

Lee looked appalled at the very notion. "Not train these wondrous gifts? Why would I want to do something like that? If I have been bestowed with such bounty it is only my solemn _duty_ to train it to its fullest,"

"Right. Then when's a good time for you? You know my schedule so let's work from there," she smiled.

"Every day!" Lee declared, "In order to train properly I must practice every day!"

"Right, every day. What time, Lee-kun?"

"Whenever is good for you,"

Kagome considered it, "After six. I can spare about an hour-hour and a half,"

"Wonderful!" he gave her the thumbs up, "And if I have a mission I shall be sure to inform you so that you are not left waiting!"

"Thanks Lee-kun," she patted his shoulder, "As it is I have to get home to make some dinner,"

"Of course! Kagome-chan must eat in order to maintain her-" he was cut off.

"I'll see you tomorrow then?"

"Of course!" another thumbs up.

Add another thing to her busy schedule. Kagome shook her head as she walked back home, alone now since Lee had to meet one of his friends somewhere else and she refused to let him walk her home. She shoved her hands into her pockets as she sauntered down the streets, smiling and nodding to people as she passed. For a village of contract killers people were remarkably friendly. Odd that.

"Kagome-chan!" Kakashi appeared right in front of her, scaring her out of her wits. Blue lightening sparked up as her hands flew up in a defensive position. The jounin held up his hands, "Whoa! Calm down, it's just me,"

Kagome relaxed, "Hatake-san, you scared me,"

"Sorry," he apologized, sounding genuinely contrite.

"It's okay. Just… give a girl some warning next time. My powers might not be fatal for humans but it can sure pack a punch if you get hit," she warned sternly.

"I guess I'll just have to make sure not to get hit then," he smiled winningly. Well, she guessed he did at least.

"Good luck on that. What are you doing here?"

"Ducking out on a meeting," he shrugged.

"Well," Kagome sighed, rolling her eyes a little, "at least you admit it. I hear that's the first step in breaking the habit," she joked.

"Heaven forbid," he clapped his hand over his chest and mimed a heart attack, "It's one of the few pleasures left to me in life, being able to torment my peers with my perpetual propensity towards tardiness,"

"Big words," she teased playfully. Suddenly she paused in her steps and breathed an amazed "Holy cow,"

"What?"

"I can't believe he's here,"

"Who?"

Kagome spun on her heel and dipped into a respectable ninety degree bow, "Sesshoumaru-sama, it has been a while,"

"Miko-san," the Taiyoukai nodded.

Kakashi blinked. He had not even sensed the man Kagome was addressing. Just who was this tall, silver-haired young man, anyways? And how did Kagome know him? A little green monster reared its ugly head – and said green monster wasn't Jaken for once.

"Sesshoumaru-sama, it's Kagome not Miko," Kagome reminded gently.

"It has also been many years since this Sesshoumaru has seen you. What are you doing in a shinobi Hidden Village?" he arched a perfect, sliver eyebrow at her. Kagome smiled sadly.

"I had to get away from the past. But what are you doing here? I would have thought you would be in Osaka or Tokyo on business,"

Kakashi was lost.

Sesshoumaru frowned slightly, "I come here on business. In fact, Miko, I came here looking for you,"

"Is that right? Why?" she tensed.

Sesshoumaru's eyes flicked over to glance at Kakashi before he answered, decisively choosing his words, "Word that the jewel has moved locations has gotten out. The power-hungry are getting near,"

Kagome paled so quickly Kakashi's heart almost stopped. "So soon? But I just moved here," she breathed. Sesshoumaru nodded.

"You cannot run for long, Miko," he warned.

"I know," she said weakly, "I just hoped that I'd have more time,"

Kakashi decided now was a good time to interject, "Kagome-chan, what's going on?"

"Kagome-san, who is this?" Sesshoumaru asked pointedly.

Kagome closed her eyes, "Sesshoumaru-sama, this is Hatake Kakashi-san, a jounin shinobi here in Konoha. Hatake-san, this is Sesshoumaru-sama, Taiyoukai of the Western Lands and a very good friend of mine,"

"Youkai?" Kakashi tensed, hands inching towards his weapons.

"Yes youkai. And do not bother with your puny weapons, this Sesshoumaru is not here for battle," Sesshoumaru snorted and turned from Kakashi.

"It's alright, Hatake-san. Sesshoumaru-sama is one of the most honorable youkai I have ever met. He will not harm anyone in this village without just cause," Sesshoumaru arched a questioning eyebrow at her when she made the promise for him, challenging her without words. Kagome just smiled benignly back.

"Of course not," he slowly agreed at length.

Oh yes, Kakashi was feeling ever so comfortable now. Yeah. Right.

"Thank you for the warning, Sesshoumaru-sama, I shall take the necessary precautions,"

"Or you could accept a position under my protection," the Taiyoukai offered.

Kagome nodded, "I could, but that might bring more harm that good, all things considered. I _have_ thought about it, considered the possibilities and all, and I think that staying on my own would be better. If I have to then I can disappear quicker this way, and less people will get hurt,"

"Kagome-chan! What is going on?" Kakashi asked, his one visible eye wide. Kagome sighed and Sesshoumaru frowned at his rudeness.

"Remember when I told you that I was trained in a sink or swim kind of way?" she asked. Kakashi nodded. "Well, that's because I had something, a jewel, that youkai wanted because it would grant even the weakest immeasurable power. And I had to stop them from gaining possession of it,"

"I see," Kakashi nodded slowly, "And now they know that you're not in Tokyo anymore and have tracked you to Konoha,"

"About that," she agreed.

"And you're not wanting protection… why?"

"The chain of command slows things down and puts more people in the line of fire,"

"Ah,"

"Foolish mortal," Sesshoumaru chided, "better slow than dead,"

"I agree with him," Kakashi said, jerking a thumb at the Taiyoukai. Kagome scowled at the two men.

"Yeah, well, what do you two know? Just because you've both been trained in the art of war and stuff like that," she said, her voice laced heavily with sarcasm, "and I'm nothing more than a humble miko who hardly passed junior high. I mean, what do I know?"

"Kagome-san," Sesshoumaru said, placing a hand on her shoulder to gain her full attention, "you have my protection, desired or not. This Sesshoumaru swears on the fangs of his father,"

Kakashi was lost on the finer points of the promise but the look on Kagome's face told him all he needed to know. This Sesshoumaru fellow was dead serious.

Kagome bowed, "I give you my thanks, Sesshoumaru-sama, and beg your forgiveness for my rudeness,"

"Forgiven. We shall meet at a later date, miko-san," Kagome sighed, not missing the fact he had returned to calling her by her title rather than her name, "We have many things to catch up on. I wish to ascertain how long it has been on your side of the well,"

"As you wish, Sesshoumaru-sama," she smiled at him, "I hope that your family is doing well. By the way, how many children do you have now?"

"Twenty. And my Lady is expecting another pup soon," the Taiyoukai sighed, running a hand through his long hair. Kakashi choked at the outrageous number.

"Twenty! Well, I suppose that would make sense. How long have you two been mated now?"

"Three hundred and forty years, give or take a decade or so,"

"And you're here not just because of me but because you wanted to get away from a hormonal wife," Kagome nodded, ignoring the glare Sesshoumaru shot her, "Not that I can blame you,"

"We shall speak again soon, miko-san," he stated, closing the conversation definitively. Kagome smiled brightly.

"Until then, Sesshoumaru-sama. Give your mate and the children my love," she waved as Sesshoumaru walked smoothly down the street, unconsciously making the crowd part before his magnificent presence.

"And just who was that?" Kakashi asked again, this time sounding very lost and pathetic. Kagome took pity on the poor lost jounin and explained.

"Sesshoumaru-sama is an old friend of mine. He's one of the people I met while I was beginning my training. It's a good thing he's not after the jewel because I really like the guy. He's all cold and frigid sadistic murdererness on the outside but such a softie when you manage to get past the 'death to all huggers' shell he has on," she laughed brightly, "When I first met him he was trying to kill his younger half-brother for their father's sword and I managed to get in the way. Thank goodness the only thing that happened to any of us was that he managed to get his arm cut off,"

"He got his arm cut off? But he had two arms just now," Kakashi was confused.

"That's a long story that happened a couple of years after that first meeting," she shrugged, "after a while we got to know each other and he even admitted some measure of respect for me, which was saying something at the time considering he hated humanity as a whole with the exception on Rin-chan, who he ended up adopting. It was around that time that I offered to heal his arm as a gesture of thanks for helping out in a very… difficult war,"

"I see," Kakashi said slowly.

"But enough about that, it's been a long day and I have to get home to get something to eat. I have an even longer day ahead of me tomorrow. Lee-kun tested positive for houriki and he accepted my offer to train him in it,"

"Houriki? As in the power of priests and monks? Lee? Rock Lee? The one and only Konoha shinobi that cannot use chakra has houriki? A power so rare it has been relegated to legend?"

"Don't sound so surprised, Hatake-san," she advised, amused despite herself, "holy powers are rare, true, even in my family where they crop up more than almost any other shine family line in all if the islands of Japan. And when they do pop up they tend to override everything else, which is probably why Lee can't use 'chakra,' not that I know what that is,"

Kakashi thought it over, absently scratching his clothed chin. That would explain one mystery. Now he could check The Mystery of the Missing Chakra off his list.

"Anyways," Kagome said, stopping in front of the entrance to her apartment building, "thank you for walking me, Hatake-san,"

"Goodnight Kagome-chan,"

* * *

Tsunade frowned at the lottery numbers. She just won a couple hundred on this ticket alone. Not good. The last time she had won Naruto almost died. Any time the 'Legendary Sucker' won at gambling bad things happened.

She was just about to pack it in and go home for the day when Shizune scurried in looking quite nervous. "Hokage-sama, there is someone to see you,"

"At this time?" Tsunade raised an eyebrow, "Who is it?"

"Taisho Sesshoumaru," said a tall young man with long silver hair and the strangest gold eyes she had ever seen as he stepped into the doorway. The Godaime Hokage had to stop herself from shivering at the strange and very powerful aura she sensed from him. And he was suppressing it.

"Taisho-san? Please, sit down," she gestured to a waiting guest chair, "May I ask what your business is?"

Sesshoumaru sat down and leveled a serious stare at the buxom blonde Medicnin, "In your Village you have a one Higurashi Kagome, a very powerful and influential miko under my protection. She has come here in hiding but unfortunately her enemies have discovered her move and are swift to catch her scent," he paused. Tsunade took a wild mental leap.

"And you want to hire us to protect her?" she asked, taking a guess.

"This Sesshoumaru is not so desperate as to stoop to enlisting the aid of humans," he sniffed. The Hokage lifted an eyebrow at his strange word choice. "Rather, I am here to inform you that if any harm comes to Higurashi Kagome this Village will be razed to the ground and every living soul will be sent to the judgment of Enma of the Afterlife. And this Sesshoumaru will execute the deed himself,"

He said it with such finite confidence that Tsunade was forced to consider his words seriously. His eyes never blinked and his facial expression never wavered. It was the ultimate poker face. And it was very spooky to boot!

"And may I inquire as to how you would accomplish such a feat?" she asked slowly, her eyes never once leaving his.

Sesshoumaru allowed the illusion on him waver and fall revealing his birthright markings, his fangs, claws and cloud-like tail. "Because, mortal," he ran his tongue over his fangs to make a point, "I am the Taiyoukai of these lands and there are none who can challenge me,"

Tsunade's blood froze as his strange chakra rolled over her in paralyzing waves and she heard herself assure the youkai that she would make sure that no harm came to Higurashi Kagome. He nodded and stood, not even bothering with the formalities of goodbyes as the human illusion snapped back into place and he strode purposefully out of her office.

Silence ticked by in the office. Tsunade sat ridged at her desk, thinking. Nodding to herself she made her decision.

"_SHIZUNE!"

* * *

_

AN: Yay! Chapter 2 out of 17 is up! Don't you all just Love Sesshoumaru? Gotta admit he's my favorite character a couple of cute moments between Kagome and Kakashi. Hope you enjoyed!


	3. Youkai Attacks

Disclaimer and warning: I don't own anything from this story but the plotline. Inuyasha and Naruto characters belong to other people, not me. I write for the fun of it and if you don't like my work just remember that I'm not making you read this. Please keep flames to yourself. Compliments are welcome. Criticism is a little pointless because I'm not going to go back and edit anything in this.

Please enjoy the fruits of my labour.

* * *

**Chapter 3**

Youkai Attacks

"Are you sure there's nothing going on between you an Kakashi-sensei?" Sakura asked one day as Kagome was supervising Lee's progress in houriki control. They had been working on it for the better part of two weeks and Kagome was well pleased with the progress he had made so far.

"Why would you think there was something going on between Hatake-san and I?" Kagome asked innocently.

"Come on, Kagome-chan, it's the talk of the village," Sakura grinned, "Kakashi, the confirmed bachelor-genius has taken an interest in a girl, not a kunoichi of any rank but a girl with blue eyes and a bright smile. Who else but you. Besides, it's hard to find Kakashi-sensei nowadays _not _around you,"

Kagome blushed lightly, "Hatake-san is a friend," she insisted, "Besides, he's too old for me,"

"Weak excuse," Sakura waved it aside, "He's only, what? Ten years older than you? That's nothing to be worried about. My parents are even further apart so I don't see any problem with it. Ino's with me on this too,"

"I know," Kagome dropped her head into her hands, "You'd think that I was being set up or something,"

"Only if we have something to say about it," the pink-haired kunoichi joked. Kagome groaned. "But don't worry, we won't force you if you don't want it,"

"That's a relief,"

"Kagome-chan," Lee interrupted, rousing himself from his meditation, "I think that I understand what you were telling me,"

Kagome smiled, "That's great! Feel like demonstrating?" she held up a set of sutras just waiting to be put to use. Lee accepted the sacred slips of paper. The two women watched as the newest priest in the Higurashi family line focused his powers into the paper, making it glow faintly. The paper snapped straight, all bend and waver chased away by the purifying powers.

"Looks good to me," Kagome nodded, approving, "Just don't overdo it this early on, okay?"

"I shall have this technique mastered by the end of the week," he vowed passionately. Kagome and Sakura smiled at him indulgently.

"We have faith in you, Lee-kun," Sakura said.

Kagome continued smiling as she took out a weapon neither Sakura not Lee had ever seen before. It looked like a crossbow with a strange lever set into the bottom of the handle. The miko pumped the lever, wrenching it out so that a little hook caught the string and expertly squeezing it back, drawing the string with relative ease. Sakura frowned as she settled a short bolt into place.

"Kagome-chan?"

"Lee-kun? Do you sense that?" Kagome asked, for the moment ignoring Sakura. Lee frowned as well.

"Sense what?"

Kagome took aim at the tree line, "Extend your houriki senses, Lee-kun," she coached, "I'll let the sucker come a little closer before I take him out,"

"There's something in the woods?" Sakura pulled out a handful of kunai.

"Something's there," Lee furrowed his eyebrows, "It doesn't feel human…"

"Good going Lee-kun," Kagome congratulated her student, "You are absolutely right,"

The bushes started rustling and Lee scrambled to his feet to stand protectively in front of the women. Kagome sighed and stepped out from behind him so that he would not be in the way in case she had to fire. A strange, one-eyed snake-like creature emerged and bared its fangs at the group.

"I sense the Jewel! Give it to me!" it demanded.

"What is that?" Sakura asked, covering her mouth, her eyes wide in shock.

"Youkai. Low-level," Kagome explained, firing the crossbow right over Lee's shoulder. The bolt hit the youkai square in its one eye, the pure energy Kagome had imbued it with incinerating it almost instantly leaving the blot to drop to the ground.

"That was a youkai?" Lee asked, amazed at how easily his cousin had disposed of the creature.

"A low-level one, yes," she nodded going to retrieve the bolt for later use, "The low-level youkai aren't much, really. Just bloodlust and base instinct. They're the ones that give the rest of the youkai a bad name. But, on the other hand, the high-level youkai are more dangerous because they are more powerful and intelligent. The highest level are call youma, youkai who can take on a humanoid appearance. I've gotten to know many youma and several hanyou – half youma, half human crossbreeds. Many youma – at least the ones I know – are pretty good people, they just operate under different cultural rules than us. We think that they're bloodthirsty and proud. They think that we're filthy, weak and hardly worth the energy it takes to deal with us. I guess it's fair," she shrugged.

"Why do they think we're filthy?" Sakura demanded, offended.

Kagome grinned and tapped her nose knowingly, "Because they can smell a hundred more times better than the best of dogs, that's why,"

"Think of the advantages of such a power!" Lee exuded amazement.

"Think of the headaches that pollution and whatnot bring," Kagome returned without missing a beat, "I know for a fact that Sesshoumaru-sama has had to have special a spell constructed just so that he can visit the human cities under his jurisdiction,"

"Wait," Sakura held up a hand, "a youkai has control over human cities?"

"If he's a Taiyoukai he does. Sesshoumaru-sama is the ruling Taiyoukai of the Western Lands and he's probably single-handedly the most powerful youkai in existence. Has to be otherwise he wouldn't be able to defend his lands from invading youkai," the blue-eyed miko boasted on behalf of her friend, "I met him a couple years back when I was working with his half brother,"

"How big are the Western Lands?" Lee asked innocently.

"The entire island of Honshuu,"

Lee and Sakura fell over.

"He's been the Western Taiyoukai for, oh, let's see…" she started muttering to herself, counting off on her fingers, "Five between now and then, fifty years, one – no, two. So that's seven and a half hundred years now, give or take a decade or so,"

If they were not already lying prostrate on the grass, they would have fallen over again.

* * *

Kagome cocked her crossbow and fired at yet another low-level youkai, turning the creature into dust well before it could reach her. Lee tossed a kunai with a sutra stuck to it into the shoulder of another youkai. The sutra did not have enough power to kill the low-level yet but it did have enough to render it immobile. Long enough for Kagome to load up her crossbow yet again and turn it to dust as well.

"Lee! Behind you!" she shouted, cocking her crossbow again.

Lee spun, snapping out a powerful roundhouse kick into the creature creeping up behind him, sending it flying through the trees. Kagome stilled, settling into a ready position.

"That looks like the last for now," she said after a while, straightening up and relaxing a little.

"Are you sure, Kagome-chan?" Lee asked, hardly even winded.

"Fairly certain, yeah. Come on, let's get back to the Village," They were several kilometers from Konohagakure at the moment. Kagome had sensed the wave of incoming youkai when she was training Lee and had decided on the spot that now was as good as any other time to get some practical work done on his sutras. So she had dragged him in the direction her senses led her and tossed him headfirst into the melee. Well, they say that experience is the best teacher.

Thankfully Lee didn't get hurt. Too seriously, that is. He had a couple of abrasions and scrapes but nothing more than that.

"Think you can give me a lift back?" she asked, feeling somewhat pathetic, "It'll take too long if you have to wait on me,"

"Not a problem, Kagome-chan!" Lee snapped a smart salute and crouched down so that his cousin could climb onto his back. She had strictly refused to be carried any other way arguing that it was undignified to be carried over someone's shoulder or in their arms when your legs worked perfectly fine. Besides, if she was on his back she wasn't useless if there was trouble.

So Kagome climbed onto Lee's back and held on as he took to the trees, running expertly along the thick branches, hopping through the air like a flying squirrel. Kagome smiled at that analogy. Lee was nuts after all. He had to be to have _that_ hairstyle!

At the speed that Lee was going it only took them a couple of minutes before the Village wall came into view. Lee stopped to let Kagome regain her feet, chattering away about whatever it was that he was planning for his next date with Sakura. Every once in a while Kagome would offer a suggestion. They walked together through the Gates, both showing their identification before either were admitted.

"You did good today, Lee-kun," Kagome praised with a soft smile, "You're coming along very well. I think that by the end of the year you should be able to take on some of the lower high-level youkai, if need be,"

"You think so, Kagome-chan?" Lee gushed, looking quite uncertain, "I hardly seem to have any power in my sutras right now,"

"Eh," she waved his concern aside, "don't worry about it. When I started I couldn't even shoot straight, much less channel into anything on command! Everything was purely out of fear at that point," Everything from freeing Inuyasha from the Sealing arrow to purifying youkai. The only thing did not demand her terror was the jewel, which remained pure merely by touching her aura.

She frowned. The jewel.

"Is something the matter?" Lee asked when Kagome had fallen silent for a long minute. She looked up, blinking as she surfaced from her thoughts.

"Wrong? No, nothing wrong. Just thinking about something rather stressful about my job," it was not a lie, she told herself. Guarding and purifying the Shikon Jewel was her life-long vocation, like it or not. Just because he immediately thought about her job at the library did not mean she was going to correct him. Lee did not need to know the true extent of the Shikon Dilemma, that was her responsibility and she was _not_ going to drag anyone else into it.

"Is it anything I can help with?"

"Don't worry about it," she waved her hand, "Right now you gotta concentrate on speeding up your channeling. Consider that your homework. But don't overdo it," and with that final stern warning Kagome melted into the crowds of civilians to wend her way home. Lee watched her bobbing head for a few seconds before taking to the roofs, intent on locating Sakura.

* * *

Another set of eyes watched as Kagome made her way through the crowd. At first he could not believe what he was seeing. Next a wave of elation and unadulterated mischief flooded his heart and soul. There was no doubt about who that aura belonged to, not in his mind. No, not a shred of uncertainty.

And it was that that spurred him into tracking the little miko. Smell was almost useless with so many humans around, most desperately needing a bath, in his mind. But the fact that his use of scent for tracking was constrained did not deter him in the least. It only livened up the game. And what good was life if everything was as easy as making onigiri? Honestly?

He scratched his nose with a deadly sharp claw and slipped fluidly into the crowd behind his quarry. With inhuman control he squashed down his aura until it was almost as unremarkable as anyone else around him. There was no need alerting her to his presence before the game was decided, after all.

* * *

Kagome paused in her meandering to slip into a used bookstore. Ever since she had left Lee there had been a tingling at the back of her senses. Nothing malicious, at least not yet, but powerful enough to be able to go unnoticed in a crowd of highly aware shinobi.

And that was enough to set Kagome on alert for, as she had learned, the shinobi of Konohagakure could not sense youki at all and if there was a youkai in the village it was her duty to ascertain its intentions. As a miko, it was her job to maintain the balance a peace between the two species at the cost of her own life, if need be. Oh joy, she hoped it would not come to that kind of extreme.

She browsed through the stacks, eyes flicking over the titles and author names. There were two from a series she was avidly perusing that she did not have already. Mentally she went over her budget for the week and decided, with a smile and a little excited laugh to herself, that she could afford to indulge herself just this once. So, with a smile on her lips and the mystery of the youkai aura shoved forcefully to the side for the moment, Kagome plucked the books off the shelved and rested them in the crook of her arm, ready for more perusing. Finding nothing else of great pressing interest she paid for her finds and left the store a little poorer but with a bright smile on her face.

The presence had vanished. Kagome brushed it off, chalking it up to a curious innocent. She stopped by the market to pick up ingredients for a sketchy dinner, the money that would have made the meal a tad more filling having gone into literary entertainment.

Natto. Natto and ramen. Not a kosher mixture but better than nothing and it was not like she was planning on going anywhere after she ate after all. Not as if she had anyone she intended on impressing.

"Yo!"

Kagome almost screamed. "H-Hatake-san," she choked, clutching her heart, "Don't do that to me!"

"Sorry, Kagome-chan," he apologized with a smile, "You're a hard girl to track down,"

"Well I just got back," she shrugged.

"Oh?" he lifted a eyebrow, the only one visible under his hitaiate.

"Yes. Something came up during Lee-kun's lesson and we had to leave the Village for a while to take care of it," she dissembled, "Nothing serious. Not even something to write home about, really,"

Kakashi leveled her with a steady stare, "Kagome-chan, you do know that when you lie you tend to look at the ground, right?"

Kagome swore under her breath, "It's nothing, Hatake-san. You shouldn't get involved, it's not your problem, it's mine and it's not all that bad,"

"It's bad enough that you moved away from your family to protect them from it," Kakashi protested, blocking her way as she tried to step around him.

"Let me by Hatake-san," she said flatly.

"Trust me enough to help you when I can. Don't carry this by yourself," he insisted.

"It's my duty and I'm not going to let anyone else get hurt in the crossfire,"

"I'm a jounin shinobi. I can take care of myself in a fight,"

"You have never come up against what I fight,"

"You underestimate my skill,"

"You think too much of your skill. Your skill is a drop in an ocean when it comes to youkai. Didn't the attack of the Kyuubi teach you people anything about youkai?" her eyes flashed blue lightning as she glared up at him, "The only humans who can stand against youkai are taijiya, miko and houshi. Shinobi are trained to fight shinobi not youkai of any level. Even the lowest of youkai can give you a problem,"

"Explain that to me," Kakashi challenged.

"Low-class youkai attack in waves of thousands. The higher class strike out on their own for the simple reason that they or their ancestors have risen above their peers in the ways of warfare. Either way they are too much for a human untrained the art of youkai combat,"

"What about you?"

"Miko. And I was trained by Sesshoumaru-sama in the art of physical combat and youkai weakness," she said stiffly, "Now if you will let me by I have dinner to make and work to do,"

Kakashi spun around as she brushed past him, "Hold on there," he demanded, "Why won't you trust me?"

"Because I promised that no one else would be hurt," she said and, quicker than he would have given her credit for, pasted a sutra on his arm. Kakashi blinked, the only movement the slip of paper afforded him, and watched as she apologized and hurried home.

How on earth did she manage that? She had frozen his movements, binding his chakra harmlessly. And all that with just a slip of paper.

* * *

Oh, he almost died from holding in his laughter at what she had done to 'Hatake-san.' True, his memory of her had dimmed a little over the past half millennia but that sutra trick was new even after several seconds of searching. Still, he simply could not resist taping a 'kick me' sign to the man's back, doing it with such skill that the man did not even realize what he had done.

Which only made him want to laugh even harder.

But he had a woman to track and laughing himself insensible would not help his mission at all. So he left the silver-haired man with the 'kick me' sign taped to his back alone to wait until the effects of the sutra wore off and trailed behind Kagome as she walked home. Her apartment building left much to be desired but at least it wasn't falling down. It was a far cry from the homes he was used to living in and he found it somewhat hard to digest that someone as powerful and influential lived in such conditions.

Something would have to change, if he had anything to say about it.

* * *

AN: Bwahahaha! Bet you can't guess who Kagome's stalker is! Ahahahaha! Chapter 3/17 up. And Kagome's training Lee. feel good!feel good! Lee's gonna be a Priest! 


	4. Protection and Enemies

Disclaimer and warning: I don't own anything from this story but the plotline. Inuyasha and Naruto characters belong to other people, not me. I write for the fun of it and if you don't like my work just remember that I'm not making you read this. Please keep flames to yourself. Compliments are welcome. Criticism is a little pointless because I'm not going to go back and edit anything in this.

Please enjoy the fruits of my labour.

* * *

**Chapter 4**

Protection and Enemies

Kagome sighed. Thirteen attacks of low-level youkai, seven of low-mid level youkai and one recently deceased mid-level. And all this in only a span of three weeks.

"They're coming quicker and quicker," she whispered painfully to herself, "If it keeps up like this I'm going to have to move again. Either that or accept Sesshoumaru's offer," The holy energy gathered around her odd crossbow dissipated slowly, fragmenting like petals blown into the wind. With great care Kagome stowed it away and said a quick prayer for the souls of the youkai she had just purified before heading back to the Village. It was late at night and she had work in the morning. Kagome almost wondered whether or not there was even a point in trying to live a normal life. Why not just strike it out on some mountaintop and live as a hermit whose only connection to the outside world was in the youkai that sought the treasure that was born into her body?

The prospect was sounding increasingly appealing every day.

But it was not so appealing that she would attempt it just yet. No, Kagome shook her head, not yet.

When she got back to the Village all that was on her mind was to get some sleep to recharge her dwindling reserves of energy and strength. But the chances of that happening pared themselves down to near none when she felt a familiar aura within the confines of the Village walls.

"Koga?" she asked herself, groaning. "Man, just what I need. I sure hope five hundred years has calmed him down a little,"

Without even a moments thought Kagome tamped her aura down, hoping that it would be enough to slip by the wolf youkai. If not, there were always more of those sutras she used on Kakashi…

And as luck would have it she had not acted quickly enough and Koga homed right in on her like a moth to a flame.

"Kagome!" he exclaimed, coming up and grabbing her hands, "What are you doing here? That dog Sesshoumaru told me you were in a human shinobi village but didn't say why. Where have you been? How did you survive all these centuries? Are you ready to be my woman yet?"

"Uh… Hello Koga-kun. What are you doing here? I thought your lands were father north than this," Kagome tried to tug her hands out of his grasp, but alas he prove to be too determined.

"When I heard Sesshoumaru say that you were alive I had to see for myself. You are, after all, my woman,"

"Koga-kun, I'm not your woman," she protested.

"Sure you are," he insisted, "And I promise to protect you for as long as I live,"

"Koga-kun," Kagome said with more force, "I am not your woman. Nor will I ever be, I'm sorry,"

"I understand Kagome-chan," Koga smiled patronizingly at her, "you need to think it over, right?"

Kagome felt like screaming. "No. No need to think it over. Koga you are a good friend but that is all. Go back to your lands, watch over your pack. Leave me here and in your memories," she sent a small jolt of power through her hands, enough to startle him into letting go, and bid him farewell. The chances of her words actually taking hold? Next to none. But right now she did not care. She was tired, needed a bath and the last thing she wanted to deal with was an amorous wolf.

* * *

"So who's the guy that's been following you around, Kagome-chan?" Ino asked pointedly when Kagome stopped in at the flower shop. Kagome's head dropped onto the counter as she slumped over.

"Heavens spare me. That's Koga. He fancies himself in love with me and won't take a hint," she moaned pathetically, "And if I thought you or anyone other than me could take care of him I'd ask you to leave his body in a dumpster. Unfortunately he's more than anyone in this village could handle. With the possible exception of Naruto-san,"

"Why Naruto?" Ino asked curiously, sneaking surreptitious glances of the youkai that just happened to be leaning against a wall of a business across the street.

Kagome shrugged, her head still stuck to the countertop, "It's his business,"

"You mean the Kyuubi?"

"If you already know then all I can say is yes," she lifted her head, "How do you know about the youkai in him?"

"It kinda came out a couple of years back. Most of the others our age know, along with all of the adults,"

"A heavy burden for him to live with," Kagome frowned, a faraway look in her eyes. Ino studied her curiously.

"You sound like you know what you're talking about,"

"I… I knew a hanyou many years ago," the miko admitted, "He and Naruto probably had similar experiences growing up. Inuyasha had no one to turn to and neither the humans nor the youkai would take him in because of his mixed blood. It was sad… so sad,"

Ino looked away, feeling a little guilty.

"But that's neither here nor there and now's not the time to brood about their tragedies," Kagome steeled herself, "Do you sell wolfsbane here?"

"Kagome-chan," Ino leveled an exasperated stare at the miko, "this is a _flower_ shop. Try a herbalist,"

"Brilliant idea,"

"Just out of curiosity, what do you want wolfsbane for?"

"To get rid of a pest,"

Ino looked very confused. Kagome left the little flower shop whistling to herself.

* * *

It only took one threat of shoving a packet of purified wolfsbane down Koga's throat to get him to leave Konoha. For now. Kagome felt very smug for even thinking of it.

As it was, now that the days had leveled out to something of a routine she was expecting something else to disrupt her quiet life. Something other than power-hungry youkai, that was. Said interruption came in the form of a hastily scribbled note that had been slipped underneath her door.

_Kagome: have an emergency mission to the Rock country. Should be back in a week. Please forgive me. Lee_

Kagome shrugged and left the note on the desk. One week without having to worry about teaching. She could live with that. In fact, she decided, she might even use that time to explore the Village.

So she packed herself a small dinner and set out one day after work. The streets were crowded, as they were wont to be at this time of day, but that did not faze the little miko. She was from Tokyo after all and these crowds were nothing compared to navigating the Ginza.

She had walked not even six streets over from her building when she felt an amazingly unique aura, one that brought a smile to her lips.

"Oi! Kagome-san!" Naruto waved from across the street and pushed his way through.

"Naruto-san," Kagome smiled at the blond, "fancy meeting you here,"

"Just got off duty," he shrugged, "What are you doing here? I thought you were training Fuzzy Brows,"

"Lee's on a mission so I have some time off," she shrugged, "I thought I'd explore the Village and maybe get lost,"

"Want a guide?" he offered. Kagome shrugged and told him that she did not mind.

"Just so long as you don't expect me to buy you ramen," she stipulated, "I can't afford your appetite,"

"No worries. I just ate," he grinned and scratched the back of his head, "So what do you want to see?"

"Well, I just figured that I'd walk around for a while to get a feel for what's where. Nothing exciting,"

"So I'll play bodyguard," Naruto laughed.

"My hero," Kagome joked along with him, "So, what can you tell me about this part of town?"

"Not much," he admitted right away, shrugging, "other than this was one of my least hit places when I was a kid,"

Kagome leveled him with an amused look, "Don't tell me. You were quite the troublemaker, weren't you?"

"The best!" the blond jinchuuriki bragged with a sunny, cocky grin.

"What changed? Or _has_ anything changed?"

"I got busy. People acknowledge me now. Guess you could say some things have changed,"

"Change is good," Kagome nodded to herself, "Then again, change can be bad too. If my life hadn't changed I wouldn't be here. I'd still be living back home at the shrine not even knowing or caring that I was a miko,"

"But is living like this so bad?" he asked, sliding into semi-seriousness. Kagome just smiled a tired smile, saying nothing. Naruto wisely dropped the subject.

* * *

So, she had found the closest native mischief maker. Figures. Even after all of those centuries she didn't change. It was just so perfect, so amusing. So Kagome.

Taking out his chequebook he wrote out a figure in flowing, practiced script. He signed his current name and dated the cheque with a wide, mischievous grin that showed off a set of inhumanly sharp teeth. Oh, this was probably going to be the best prank he played on Kagome ever. Now that he knew were she lived, where she worked, what she did in her spare time, everything, this was going to be even more fun.

He wanted to see if she could guess just who he was.

* * *

Kagome flipped on the lights in her little apartment and frowned at the slip of paper resting on the floor just inside the door. She bent down, setting her purse next to her shed shoes and picked the cheque up. Another one. This was the third such cheque, made out to her and signed by someone she had never met before. She had done an internet search of his name and apparently he was some big time businessman. But no matter how much she wracked her brains Kagome could not think of a reason why he would be sending her money. And by cheque under her apartment door no less!

The site that she had found even had a picture of her benefactor: a dashing portrait of a smiling man with a finely boned heart-shaped face with forest green eyes and unruly black hair mixing into a sure heartbreaker. Nothing Kagome was unfamiliar with as a result of her dealings with youma. Still, she would like to be able to meet the man in order to (a) thank him for his generosity and (b) ask him why.

Why her? And why so much? Five hundred thousand yen was a little much to be handing out to one person every week. Generosity was nice and all but there was a line that indicated insanity.

A jaunty tune spilled forth from her purse and Kagome fished around for her cell phone.

"Hello?"

"_Kagome-chan? How are you?"_

"Momma! I'm going great. How are you and everyone else?" Kagome sunk to rest on her folded futon, curling her feet underneath her.

"_Grandpa's been having some problems with his joints and Souta's team won the tournament and will be advancing to the city tournament,"_

"Really? That's wonderful. And tell Grandpa he should try Noni. I've been doing some research and I've hear it helps,"

"_I'll pass that along. Your friends say hello and Sesshoumaru came in a couple days ago. I think you should take a job under him. It wouldn't do you harm to have him as your protecting Lord,"_

"Momma," Kagome sighed, "I have to be able to pick up and move in a second. And working for Sesshoumaru-"

"_It would give him an excuse to protect you. You know he respects you enough for that. Why else would he offer? You know Sesshoumaru isn't the type of man that would offer something like that so lightly,"_ Mrs. Higurashi said seriously.

"I'm not going to drag anyone else into this mess. It's mine to deal with,"

"_Kagome…"_

"Let me do this on my own, Momma. Please,"

Silence reigned on the phone connection for several long seconds before her mother acquiesced very reluctantly, _"Alright Kagome. Just call if anything happens or if you need anything,"_

"I will," Kagome promised and wished her mother a good night before disconnecting and switching the phone off. She slumped against the wall and stared out the lone window. Not much of a view. She wished she hadn't had to make that promise, a promise she wouldn't keep, couldn't keep. How could she make her mother worry. If something happened to her and she told it would only confirm her mother's nightmares.

Never.

At length Kagome stirred enough to pull a book off of the stack she had growing in a corner. The cheque was still in her hand and she frowned down at it for a moment before slipping it into her purse. It couldn't be a mistake. Her name was always printed clearly on the front. She felt strange, depositing cheques from someone she knew nothing about, but she wasn't complaining. If worse came to worst she could always beg Sesshoumaru to help her out if it came to a legal matter of debate.

May it never come to that, Kagome prayed, with the gods blessings.

* * *

"So are you and Kakashi-sensei going out yet?" Sakura pressed. Kagome almost choked on her riceball and had to take a moment to regain her balance.

"What?"

"Are you and Kakashi-sensei going out yet?" the pink-haired kunoichi repeated slowly.

"Sakura-kun, I haven't seen Hatake-san for at least a week now,"

"So? He's on an emergency mission,"

Kagome blinked, "Will he be okay? I mean, I heard that what you guys do can be really dangerous,"

"I'm sure Kakashi-sensei will be fine," Sakura reassured her friend and winced as the sutra in Lee's hand exploded violently, singeing cloth wrappings and skin alike.

"Crap! Lee! Get to the hospital right now! Today's lesson is over," Kagome ordered, her eyes wide. Lee nodded and sprinted away, holding his hand away from his body but still sheltered from further harm. Kagome waved Sakura after him, smiling a little as she was suddenly alone on the edge of the forest. She decided to take a walk, maybe explore the forest a little. Might as well since she had the time and she did need some herbs after all. Kagome sent a prayer skyward for Kaede, thanking her for teaching her about herbs and the like.

Not knowing what kind of healing they would be able to do for her cousin Kagome set out to search for the proper plants to make a healing and soothing poultice.

* * *

It only took him a couple of minutes of careful observation to ascertain what types of plants she was looking for. When he did, smiling at her thoughtfulness, he force-grew more of the same kind and several that held similar properties of healing and numbing. Anything for her.

He shrunk back a little as she turned to face the general direction in which he was hidden. His eyes twinkled as she searched the trees for him, confusion etched across her face. She could not find him, even with her skills. Then again, one does not survive the better part of half a millennia without learning some tricks. One of the pluses.

He grinned when she finally gave up her search. His record was still perfect! Not once in all the weeks he had been following her had she caught a glimpse of him.

* * *

Tsunade rubbed her temples trying to ward off a growing headache. That silver-haired youkai's words kept echoing throughout her mind as an endless mantra. She had done some research on the name he had given her: Taisho Sesshoumaru. According to her sources he was a well established business man and owner/CEO of Taisho Inc., a conglomerate of so many different fields that it was a book all unto itself just to list them. not much else was known, just that he had inherited the business from his father who inherited from his father and so on and so forth. He was married with children, that much was also known, but the strange thing was that no one seemed to know who he was married to or even what his children's names were.

An enigma with claws, that was what he was. And he wanted no harm to come to a 'Higurashi Kagome,' a miko that she could not find. Hence the current meeting.

"People," She called out, gathering the present jounin's attention. The group of shinobi fell silent, waiting. "As another order of business there has been an order," a quite ripple of surprise at her choice of words, "for the protection of a certain someone that apparently resides within our Village walls. Someone of great power and influence has…" she dithered over her next word, "_requested_ the protection of a Higurashi Kagome--"

"Kagome-san?" Naruto piped up, interrupting as he sat up from his slouch, eyes wide, "Who wants her protected?"

"You know her?" Tsunade exclaimed, suddenly sitting forward.

"She lives in my building. Ino and Choji introduced us when she applied for a job at the flower shop," he shrugged innocently.

Tsunade dropped her head into her hands, "Figures. You would. Just figures. Anyways, as I was going to say, her protection is near top priority. Naruto, if you would bring her in I would like to meet her. The rest of you should stick around somewhere so you can see what she looks like so you know her when you see her," she dismissed the lot and paid little attention to their respectful departures.

It would just figure that Naruto had known her all along. Why hadn't she thought to ask the brat in the first place?

Because he was a jinchuuriki, that's why. And from all the legends miko hated and exterminated youkai. If that were all true then he would not be alive anymore. Then again, if that were true then why would a _youkai_ be advocating her utmost security? Nothing she knew about the girl made any sense.

It was a mere quarter hour before Naruto strolled into her office with a small woman following behind. Tsunade was taken aback that such a tiny woman could be so important to the power who had the Village in a near unknown chokehold over her health and well-being. But there was something about her that confused the Medicnin right off. It seemed like she had no chakra, like Lee.

"Kagome-san, this is the Hokage. Baa-chan, meet Kagome-san," Naruto introduced impishly. Tsunade glowered at the blond but turned a bright, if a little forced, smile on Kagome.

"So you are Higurashi Kagome-san," she said for starters, "I have heard of you,"

"Obviously, Hokage-sama, or else you would not have sent Naruto-san to kidnap me in the middle of my job," Kagome returned, a playful twinkle in her sapphire blue eyes, "So what can I do for you?"

"We have had a… _request_ for your safety,"

"From who?" Kagome lifted an eyebrow, settling herself into a waiting chair that Naruto had produced for her.

"Taisho Sesshoumaru,"

"Sesshoumaru-sama? He didn't!" she exclaimed, eyes widening with sudden emotion.

"You know him?" state the obvious, but it had to be asked.

"I have known Sesshoumaru-sama since he was still a new Lord, in power for only a bare century. He and I are old allies and friends but I told him that I did not need his protection," she pursed her lips and glared down at her hands, "But I should have expected something like this from him. Getting anything through his skull is an act of sheer will and not something I particularly excel at. I thought he had accepted my answer but I guess not. Forgive me for bringing him down upon your Village, Hokage-sama, it was not what I had planned,"

"And what _had_ you planned, Kagome-san?" Tsunade asked, curious. Naruto scratched his arm, listening in with more respect than Tsunade thought he possessed.

"I had hoped to loose the attention of a group that was seeking something that has been entrusted to me to protect," was the enigmatic answer the Hokage got.

"Youkai?" Naruto asked, speaking at last.

Kagome nodded, "Low-class mostly. Some mid-class as well but so far no high-class. Thankfully the high-class youkai are too confident in their own power to care about the object I protect, otherwise I really would move up into the mountains away from anyone,"

"And just what is it that you protect?"

Stony silence. Kagome got to her feet with all the dignity of a queen. "I don't believe that that is any of your business. The less people who know what it is I carry the better for all around me. Too many people have died already and I refuse to allow anyone else come to harm. _That_ is one of the reasons why I refused Sesshoumaru-sama's offer to be put under his protection. I _am not _powerless and I _can_ and _will_ protect myself against anything that tries to take it from me," she said with cold, clipped emotion. Tsunade sat back, startled by the change in the tiny slip of a girl. Gone was the young woman with large innocent eyes. Those strangely bright blue eyes flared with a righteous light of their own. Conviction oozed from her every pore. In short, she had transformed into what could be stereotyped at a proud queen.

"I mean no offense," she said before Kagome could turn to leave, "but if there is something in this Village that is a danger to my people I have a right to know,"

Kagome considered the Hokage and her words carefully, "It is a jewel. A cursed Jewel of Four Souls,"

"The _Shikon_," Naruto breathed, eyes wide.

Kagome's head whipped around to stare at him, wary distrust colouring her normally cheery aura. "Is that your knowledge or the kitsune's inside you?" she all but demanded.

"Wait," Tsunade interrupted before Naruto could answer, "What is this Shikon?"

Kagome said nothing, her mouth stubbornly sealed shut.

"According to Kyuubi," Naruto said slowly, answering both women at the same time, "it is a jewel created by the last will of a miko thousands of years ago who was fighting a hopeless battle against countless youkai. He says that if it falls into the hands of a youkai it will grant them unimaginable power,"

"Not unimaginable," Kagome corrected wearily, "trust me, for those who have already died defending it and me, that power can be all to real. Even the few that managed to survive will not ever forget it,"

"That bad?"

"Worse," Kagome looked up, eyes hardened as much as a blooded ANBU, "The last time the Shikon fell into the hands of a youkai – a _hanyou!_ – it changed the shape of history. Terror has nothing on what he did with only shards of it. He began with only the powers of transformation and deception and with every sliver, every fragment, he only got more powerful and more dangerous. If you took your worst, wildest and bloodiest nightmare you would have _one day _under his reign,"

Silence fell in the Hokage office.

"The last time the Shikon surfaced was five hundred years ago," Naruto said slowly.

Kagome nodded, "And only a select few have survived through to today. Sesshoumaru-sama is one of them,"

"So it is not you he wants protected, it is the jewel," Tsunade deduced.

"Sesshoumaru-sama could care less about the jewel. He thinks it's a useless trinket that the powerless use to entertain illusions of grandeur," Kagome was quick to slash the Hokage's conclusion with her words, "Sesshoumaru-sama is an inuyoukai and wishes me protected because he sees me as someone in his pack, someone under his protection whether I wish it or no,"

"And how do you know him?"

"I have answered more than enough of your questions, Hokage-sama," Kagome decided, "If you wish to ask me any more then I request that Sesshoumaru-sama be present. But chances that he'll be in the area within the next month or so are slim as his wife is having a child very soon, so don't hold your breath. The Shikon is none of your concern and I would appreciate it if you tactfully ignored the fact I even exist. Do that and we will get along famously, since all I came here for was to be lost in the masses,"

"Why?" Tsunade was confused, "Why, if you are the guardian of something so desired by youkai, do you not want protection?"

Kagome's eyes dulled, "Because if I have it my way then no one else will ever have to die for me," And with that she spun on her heel and walked gracefully out of the office leaving one stunned Hokage and one thoughtful shinobi in her wake.

"Naruto," Tsunade sighed, rubbing her temples, "What do you know about the Shikon. I want to know _everything_,"

* * *

Kagome's nerves were screaming at her as she walked home that night from training Lee. The nights were getting progressively longer and so it was already dark by the time they finished and started heading home. Now more people knew about the jewel that she had been born to protect and purify, a thought that troubled the young miko. And it did not help that she could _feel_ someone watching her.

Quickening her steps in hopes of reaching the safety of her apartment, Kagome almost tripped. She managed to catch herself but that split moment of instability brought about more than she had ever imagined it could. Pain exploded in the base of her skull bringing an explosion of bright white light followed swiftly by darkness and oblivion.

A man dressed wholly in mottled gray with a strange hitaeate tied loosely over his forehead picked up the unconscious miko and vanished.

* * *

AN: Don't hit me! It's all gonna be good, trust me! I should know, i've got this whole thing written already! Chapter 4/17 


	5. Finding Kagome

Disclaimer and warning: I don't own anything from this story but the plotline. Inuyasha and Naruto characters belong to other people, not me. I write for the fun of it and if you don't like my work just remember that I'm not making you read this. Please keep flames to yourself. Compliments are welcome. Criticism is a little pointless because I'm not going to go back and edit anything in this.

Please enjoy the fruits of my labour.

* * *

**Chapter 5**

Finding Kagome

One of the first things Kakashi did when he got back from his mission – after reporting and a shower – was stroll down to the library. It was the talk of the town that Hatake Kakashi had started frequenting the establishment and many people theorized that the reason was a certain blue-eyed librarian. They might even be right.

As it was his appearance still made everyone in the library pause. He sidled up to the nearest desk and waited for a woman with her steel gray hair pulled back into a bun and her glassed perched primly on her nose to notice he was waiting. She took her time, not that he minded in the least.

"Can I help you?" she asked, her voice never rising above the acceptable library stage whisper.

"Is Kagome-chan working today?" he asked casually.

The lady frowned slightly, "Higurashi-san hasn't been in for the past three days,"

Kakashi hitched up an eyebrow, "I thought she worked every day,"

"She is supposed to,"

"But she hasn't come in,"

She nodded. Kakashi thanked her and exited the building of literature. So Kagome had not shown up for work in three days. That was smacking of something very wrong. Kagome was not the type of person to skip work without better then excellent reason.

Whistling a jaunty tune that was at strict odds with what he was feeling Kakashi wandered through the streets to Kagome's apartment. He frowned when he could not sense her unique energy inside. When his knock went unanswered Kakashi deftly picked the lock and let himself in. The tiny three tatami apartment was exactly as he remembered it to be: neat, ordered and with nothing out of place.

Nothing here.

Someone slammed into him from behind, knocking him into the desk. Kakashi had not even sensed the person and twisted around as quickly as he could to face his attacker. The man was tall, dressed in civilian clothing. His black hair was cut in a fashionable windswept style and his green eyes promised a painful death.

"Where's Kagome!" he demanded, growling in an unnatural parody of a wild animal.

"Who are you!" Kakashi snapped back, getting to his feet and pulling out weapons all in one smooth, practiced move.

"Where. Is. Kagome. Tell me before I decide to gut you like a fish. I think I could even get Sesshoumaru-sama's pardon for doing it too," the green-eyed man cracked his knuckles dangerously and Kakashi had this sudden premonition that he was going to die in some of the most painful ways known to anything living.

"I don't know where Kagome is. I'm looking for her myself," the jounin admitted at length.

"Is that so?" the man frowned and suddenly leaned back against the wall to study the cornered jounin, "So what are you doing in her apartment? Looking for clues?"

"Actually I just got back. I haven't even gotten as far as clues as of yet. What's happened?"

"Someone took her."

Kakashi's one exposed eye widened and he saw red. "Who,"

"Humans, that's all I know right now. She could have dealt with youkai, and they know that. All it takes for them is one brush against her aura to know she's walking death for anything with youki and ill intent. My theory is that a group of youkai have contracted some humans to do the hands-on work for them. Kagome's near helpless against humans as most miko are,"

"Why are you telling me this?"

The green-eyed man smiled suddenly, "Because Kagome's sweet on you no matter how much she denies it. It's the first time she's gotten attached to someone that way since the last battle for the jewel where almost everyone she cared for was murdered," his gaze fell for a mere second before rising to rest again on Kakashi, "And if Kagome trusts you so can I. Now come one. We gotta find her before Sesshoumaru-sama finds out about this and decides to make good on his threat to your Hokage,"

Kakashi nodded slowly, unsure about the person before him but knowing that two working together was better than tow working separately.

"So where do we start, since I'm assuming you have already done some looking into this?" he asked.

"Now we go to your Hokage of course," the man grinned.

* * *

"Kakashi, I wasn't expecting to see you again so soon," Tsunade said as she sat back in her chair. The perpetually late jounin had strolled with obviously forced casualness back into her office, this time with another man, one with black hair and the most striking green eyes the Medicnin had ever come across.

"Yeah, well, I ran into a problem," Kakashi shrugged.

"Problem?" Tsunade hitched up an eyebrow, questioning.

"Higurashi Kagome has been kidnapped," said the stranger without preamble. Tsunade paled, her face loosing colour in record time. The stranger continued, "I would like to enlist the services of a small team of your shinobi in order to retrieve her. Three will do,"

"And may I ask who you might be?"

"Takemoto Hatsuharu," he inclined his head politely, "A dear old friend of Kagome's and a close ally to Sesshoumaru-sama. I know of Sesshoumaru-sama's promise to you and I wish to make sure that the severity of this situation does not come to that outcome," he said gravely.

"How do you know about what Taisho-san promised?" Tsunade asked, feeling justified in her suspicion.

"Because Sesshoumaru-sama informed me of his word before he returned to his home. He entrusted me with the duty of making sure he would not loose a village under his control to the sheer stupidity of the mortals that inhabited it,"

"You speak like he did," the Hokage observed.

Hatsuharu grinned foxily, "You kinda get that way when the guy all but raises you. I guess it's just something that I picked up along the way. Now, about that team,"

"You asked for three?"

"That's right. I want Kakashi-san here, Naruto and a your student, Sakura," he listed off right away without pause for thought, "and I will be accompanying them as once we get out of the Village I will be able to track her better than anyone you have under you,"

"You sound confident in your skills," Kakashi said, "What makes you so sure you can out track me?"

Green eyes twinkled with inner mischief, "Because you are only human, Kakashi-san, and _I _am so much more,"

His reply garnered raised eyebrows and sinking spirits. What was it, Tsunade asked herself, about this Kagome that attracted youkai? He must have guessed at her thoughts because he nodded and tossed her a wink.

"Don't worry about compensation for this mission. I can take care of that without problem. But the sooner they are assembled and can leave the better,"

Tsunade nodded to Kakashi who vanished to fetch the others two requested. Hatsuharu settled himself comfortably on a waiting chair. They regarded each other in silence for several minutes.

"You are youkai?"

"Indeed,"

"Then why are you so worried about a miko? Legend says that youkai and miko hate each other,"

Hatsuharu snorted, "Legend has it almost right, but much is lost in the centuries. Miko are the counterbalance to the youkai. We are helpless to their power as normal humans are helpless to ours and the miko and houshi are virtually helpless against other humans. It evens the playing field quite nicely,"

"I would imagine," Tsunade agreed.

"Then again," he continued thoughtfully, "Kagome has found another of her family here with the powers of a houshi and the training of the shinobi. A strange combination if you look at it historically. You might even know the boy: Rock Lee. I'm guessing that by the time she is done training him in houriki he will be quite the asset, depending on where his destiny takes him,"

"What's up with this, Baa-chan!" Naruto interrupted anything either Tsunade or Hatsuharu were going to say next by barging into the office without even a knock. Tsunade scowled but Hatsuharu grinned like a fool.

"Hello Naruto. We're here to rescue Kagome and I asked your Hokage if she would allow you to accompany me. You and Sakura-san along with Kakashi-san,"

"Kagome's missing?" Naruto paused, floored.

"Kidnapped by humans. You should know what that means, I'm guessing,"

"It's about the Shikon, isn't it?" Naruto deduced.

"Any trouble with Kagome added in is bound to be," Hatsuharu agreed, "Now all we need are Kakashi-san and Sakura and we can go,"

"Why'd you ask for us?"

"I requested you because off all the people in this Village you three seem to be the most useful as well as some of the ones that Kagome cares for most. I did not ask for Ino-san because she will soon find that she is pregnant and Lee is only half trained in houriki as of yet. Kakashi holds Kagome's heart, whether she admits it or not. You are jinchuuriki, reason enough and Sakura-san is a Medicnin and friend. We might need her but I truly hope not," his expression darkened and his gaze turned inward with his thoughts.

"So do I. I _like_ Kagome. She's nice to me even though I've got a youkai sealed inside my body," Naruto scowled, hands fisted by his sides.

"That's just the way she is. It's the way she's always been. How else do you think she gets in so much trouble?" Hatsuharu snorted, "But it's that that makes her such a wonder. She even managed to crack into the shell of the Ice Lord Sesshoumaru,"

"And crawl into the jaded heart of Kakashi-sensei," Naruto added slyly as Kakashi and Sakura walked in.

"Jaded!" Kakashi exclaimed, wounded, "Me?"

"You," both of his former students agreed.

"Seems it's agreed," Hatsuharu smirked, "Now. Kakashi-san, have you filled Sakura-san in on the mission? Yes? Good. Then let's move,"

* * *

Kagome woke up with a splitting headache. She had no idea how long she had been chained up in this room. It was dark with no windows or lighting at all. Only a sliver of gray told her were the door was but that was all the respite she had in the manmade black hole.

The door opened bringing with it the near blinding light from a small oil lamp. Kagome cringed away from what she knew was coming.

"Hello Miko," cooed the evil man, "Ready to give up yet? You know that your friends aren't coming. You left them, abandoned them. Why should they bother looking for you? You who did not want them enough to stay and fight by their sides?"

Kagome whimpered at how easily the poison of the words struck home.

"Come now, none of that," he said with patently false care, "Look up," he reached out and jerked her chin up, forcing her to meet his eyes.

Terror filled her heart as his illusions took hold again.

* * *

Kakashi watched the self-appointed group leader with his one normal eye as they ran through the trees. It had only taken Hatsuharu a mere half hour to locate Kagome's pure scent out of the myriad of scents that drifted around the Village, fading though it was. After that they had been running without pause, Hatsuharu taking the lead, Kakashi second then Sakura with Naruto taking hind. If he did not already know that the green-eyed man was youkai Kakashi would have found the arrangement very odd.

As it was, Sakura was confused out of her skull trying to figure out why both Kakashi and Naruto were differing to a civilian. And why he seemed so confidant in his tracking skills when all she saw him do was wander around. He did not look for anything that she could see, just pace around the perimeter of the Village wall and declare that this was the way Kagome had been taken. What was he basing that conclusion on? Air?

Naruto was talking with Kyuubi and the fox was yammering on about how great the guy leading them was. Not much of it made a lot of sense to him. Oddly enough, the name that Kyuubi was calling him did not match up with the name he had given Tsunade…

Hatsuharu, on the other hand, was not so directed inwards. His senses spread themselves all around the forest, listening to the trees whispering amongst themselves, the wind as it imparted the sacred secret of where Kagome was being hidden. The humans behind him ran fast enough to placate his impatience, thankfully. If not he might have given up on the idea that had been forming in his mind ever since discovering that Kagome was missing. He had only taken his eyes off of her for an hour at most. Enough to grab a bite to eat and flirt with a pretty girl, not long at all. Apparently it was long enough.

And boy was he kicking himself over that little slip up. If anything happened to Kagome Sesshoumaru would have his skin as a rug, tanned and cured with head still attached like one of those bear skin rugs people out-country loved so much way back when. Hatsuharu shivered at the thought because he _knew_ that Sesshoumaru would do it regardless of their past relationship. The centuries had not changed him _that _much.

A change in the scent brought him up short and he ground to an abrupt halt on a thick tree branch. The three shinobi stopped as well with greater and lesser degrees of speed.

"What is it?" Sakura asked, frowning. Hatsuharu glared at her momentarily for daring to question his actions.

"Kagome's changed hands," he said, testing the air, "Someone with a greater knowledge of what she is and who could be looking for her had her now. They're taking more care in hiding their trail,"

"Can you still track her?" Naruto asked, understanding what he meant.

"It'll take longer. We'll have to slow down," he glowered, discontent with this turn of events.

"How can you tell all this?" Sakura asked, confused.

Hatsuharu turned twinkling eyes at her, "Because I'm so much more than any of you could ever hope to be even with another thousand years of evolution," he said enigmatically, "Now, let's get back to finding Kagome because if anything happens to her and Sesshoumaru-sama finds out about it he has pledged to raze your Village to the ground, leaving not even a single child alive,"

"He what!" Sakura exclaimed, shocked. She paused, "Wait, who's Sesshoumaru?"

"Sesshoumaru, Taiyoukai of the Western Lands – the Lands which you happen to live in – possibly the most powerful youkai in the entire world. _That_ is Sesshoumaru-sama. He's also close friends and allies with Kagome and has been since the last battle for the jewel she protects," Hatsuharu explained, irritated at her human ignorance. He could not resist adding, with great sarcasm, "It's strange, I thought more humans knew who their Taiyoukai was,"

"Cut them some slack," Naruto cut in before Sakura could execute her famous one-two combo, "The people of Konoha kinda have a great aversion to anything youkai,"

"Right, the Kyuubi debacle," Hatsuharu nodded absently, his attention suddenly divided, "Nasty thing that. Sesshoumaru was out meeting with the Lady of the Northern Lands when that happened,"

"While the master's away the demons come out to play?" Naruto laughed with little humor at his joke.

"Something like that. Kyuubi was a weak nine-tails that Sesshoumaru would have dealt with as soon as he got back. Hardly even a petty lord. It was probably better for the miscreant to be sealed, not that I'd wish that on any human," Hatsuharu shrugged with fluid grace, "This way," he pointed forty five degrees to their left and started off again. Although his pace was slower than before it was still swifter than the normal human could sprint even with the hounds of the afterlife on their heels.

* * *

Kagome sobbed brokenly as the door closed behind her tormentor. The worst part of his visits was that everything he said was true. Every single word of it was the absolute truth. If she had been able to find even one lie Kagome thought she could have fought against him, but no.

No. She _was_ selfish. She _was_ thoughtless. She _was_ a terrible mother. She _was_ dirty and evil. She _was_ so very unworthy to protect the Shikon Jewel. So _very_ unworthy for such a task, a task that required someone pure of heart and soul, someone selfless and good. Someone that was not her.

Not her.

* * *

AN: Ah, sorry, Kagome doesn't get to go home yet. Short, i know. Chapter 5/17 


	6. Fixing Kagome

Disclaimer and warning: I don't own anything from this story but the plotline. Inuyasha and Naruto characters belong to other people, not me. I write for the fun of it and if you don't like my work just remember that I'm not making you read this. Please keep flames to yourself. Compliments are welcome. Criticism is a little pointless because I'm not going to go back and edit anything in this.

Please enjoy the fruits of my labour.

* * *

**Chapter 6**

Fixing Kagome

Hatsuharu and the three shinobi crouched down out of sight to assess the situation. They had reached the end of the scent trail, a trail that lead right to a fortified building in the middle of a clearing. No cover at all from any angle.

"I can smell fifteen right now. No telling how many are further inside," Hatsuharu said in a forced whisper, "Naruto, you and Sakura take out the guys one the outside and follow Kakashi and me in. Kakashi I want you to take care of anyone else you can. I'll find Kagome. If anybody who was involved in this lives you will be sure that they will be dead anyways by my hand before the end of the day so you might as well take them out now and save me the clean up,"

They all nodded.

"I'll provide cover. Trust me, they won't be able to see through this illusion, even if they had the eyes of your Uchiha friend," he smirked, looking positively smug, "Nothing can see through this illusion. Let's get going,"

With one final glance Hatsuharu darted out from under their dubious cover into full sunlight. When none of the guards who were looking their way made any move to stop him the shinobi followed, catching up swiftly. With deadly precision Naruto slit the throats of all the guards at the entrance. Hatsuharu had the lock unlocked in seconds and spared a moment only to place a leaf on every corpse. None of the shinobi with him bothered to notice that the corpses vanished the moment he turned his back on them. Illusion was a wonderful thing.

"This way," he pointed down a hall to their right.

They moved in silence, death flowing around them like a thick fog. Between the four of them no one they encountered lived more than bare seconds. Hatsuharu led them through the halls and down many winding stairs, deep into the earth. With every step the sent of they target grew stronger and with every step Hatsuharu felt his control over his youki slip. Pain and despair permeated the air so concentrated that he wondered why the humans could not smell it.

"What is that?" Naruto whispered, a hand over his nose.

Obviously he could smell better than the average human. "That is the scent of pure despair, Naruto-san. Kagome's despair and misery," he growled, his hair flickering, changing colours chaotically. He stopped in front of a plain door, "This is it," he muttered, kneeling down so he could open the lock.

Kakashi held his breath, ready to rush in and rescue the little miko that held his heart. The lock clicked open and the abject self loathing almost bowled both Hatsuharu and Naruto over.

"Kagome?" Hatsuharu called, stepping in before Kakashi could, "Kagome, it's alright. We've come for you,"

"Go away," moaned something pathetic, "I'm not worth it. Just forget me. I'm nothing," Her words broke their hearts, piercing them straight to their very souls.

"Kagome," Hatsuharu fell down beside the broken miko. The illusion he had held over himself shattered, revealing his true form. Black hair brightened to flaming red and nine equally red tails tipped with white burst forth from the base of his spine to quiver uncontrollably with pent up emotion, "Momma, it's me, Shippou. I've come to rescue you. I love you. Kakashi loves you. Naruto and Sakura love you too. You're important to us. You're important to so many people. You're everything but pathetic and worthless. Kagome, you're beautiful. So pure,"

"Shippou?" Kagome finally looked up from where she had curled up on the floor. Her blue eyes had dark circles underneath them and her skin what so white it was almost blue, "Shippou? Is that you? How – I… Oh, Shippou-kun!"

Shippou wrapped his arms around the woman that had raised him five centuries past. He looked up at his companions, pure emotional anguish inscribed across his inhumanly attractive face.

"We have to get her out of here. Now." he commanded with no room for argument, "Kakashi, take Kagome. Naruto, Sakura, cover Kakashi while you guys run – and I mean _run_ – back to the village. I'll meet you there," he stood, gathering his adopted mother in his arms and passing her to the silver-haired jounin.

"Shippou?" Kagome sobbed, the unvoiced plea as to why _he_ was abandoning her now rang clear. The kitsune brushed his hand through her bangs, pushing them out of her eyes.

"I'll meet you in the Village, Momma. Trust me. I won't go back on my word. Just go with Kakashi-san and let Naruto-san and Sakura-san protect you until I finish up some work here," he said softly and waved something under her nose. Within seconds the miko was unconscious.

"What was that?" Sakura asked, glancing away from the door.

"Just the extract of a plant that induces sleep. Now get going. I'm going to take care of things here. These shinobi don't even know the wrath of an angered kitsune, but they will. Too bad no one will live to tell the tale." Shippou cracked his knuckles, flashed deadly claws and stalked out of the room and back up the stairs, leaving them behind.

Kakashi looked at his former students and nodded, "Let's get back. He can take care of anything that comes at him,"

"He's youkai after all and even more powerful than Kyuubi if the fox's rantings are any indication," Naruto agreed and took point. Kakashi followed him and Sakura had rear.

* * *

Shippou stalked the halls. Blood covered the walls where he had met up with some of the villains that had held his mother. He was getting closer to her chief tormentor. His nose never lied and the man's foul stench was so close he was almost gagging on it.

Oh, he would enjoy playing with the filthy dog.

* * *

It would be another three days before Kagome opened her eyes again. Kakashi had taken her straightway to the hospital, Naruto and Sakura hot on his heels. Tsunade herself examined the little miko, the threat of Sesshoumaru looming over her head like an ominous dark cloud. Physically there was nothing wrong with the girl. Shippou, his illusion of Takemoto Hatsuharu back in place, had to explain that the plant extract he had used on her was quite powerful and would hold its effect for several days.

Kakashi, much to the amazement of anyone who knew him, refused to leave Kagome's side except to use the washroom. He slept in the chair beside her bed and ate the meals that Sakura ended up bringing him as she made her rounds. It was the talk of the town come the second day.

When Kagome woke on the third day Kakashi was talking quietly with Shippou about something indistinct. It took her a second of staring at the ceiling before she remembered what had happened swamped her. Despair coloured her aura.

"Momma?"

"Kagome?"

Kagome either did not hear or ignored both. Her expression closed and she shut her eyes, trying in vain to block out her own feelings.

"Momma – Kagome – you're up," Shippou hesitantly ran his fingers over her forehead and down her cheek, "That's good. You didn't leave us,"

"Kagome," Kakashi breathed, worried when she did not react to Shippou, "Kagome, look at me. Please… open your eyes,"

The tormented miko heaved a ragged sigh and complied, staring straight up at the ceiling above her.

"Kagome," Shippou almost sobbed, his soul rent in two by her expression alone, "What did they do to you? What did they say?"

"The truth," Kagome whispered, tears pooling in the corners of her eyes, "Just the truth,"

"What does that mean?" Kakashi asked her.

"I'm worthless, a coward. I abandoned everyone who needed me. I left you Shippou, when you were only a child. I'm not worthy to protect the jewel. I'm not _pure_. I'm selfish," she sobbed, covering her face with her hands. Shippou and Kakashi exchanged a startled glance.

"Kagome," Kakashi broke into her self-depreciating tirade, "Kagome, you are anything but! You're beautiful inside and out,"

"If you were unworthy the Shikon would not shine the way it does when it is around you," Shippou added, putting his knowledge of the sacred artifact to good use. "If you were that selfish and cowardly then why would Sesshoumaru-sama go over your head to ensure your protection? Why would so many people, human and youkai, love you enough to lay down their very lives just to see you happy? Kagome, you are my second mother, the one I _chose _to be with because you are so very wonderful,"

"So many people have died because of me," she protested, "How can that be wonderful?"

"Those people died because of a cursed jewel," Kakashi said firmly, "You had no control over the will of the gods,"

"Or evil hanyou," Shippou added pragmatically.

"Them too," Kakashi agreed absently, "You had no control over what happened. From what Shippou-san has told me you acted better than anyone else would have in your situation. You are pure,"

Kagome shook her head, face still hidden behind her hands. "No, no, no," she moaned over and over.

Shippou scowled and pulled out a slim device Kakashi had only heard of: a cell phone. They weren't very common in Konoha as the shinobi population found them to be very dangerous on a mission and too expensive to bother with if they were to leave them at home every time they were called out. Landlines and radios were the telecommunication of choice. The kitsune pressed a couple of buttons and held the phone to his ear, waiting for the other end to pick up. He did not have to wait long.

"It's Shippou. I'm with Kagome right now." he said as an opening, "Something's happened. Has your latest been born yet?"

Kakashi's eyebrow lifted for a bare second before he turned his eyes back to Kagome. Awkwardly he stoked her hair, trying to calm her down and still the tears. He shifted himself closer so that he could sit on the edge of her hospital bed.

"Calm down Sesshoumaru-sama," Shippou sighed, startling Kakashi, "If Momma was physically hurt I wouldn't be calling you now would I? Especially after that promise you made. But I do think we'll be needing your mate here as soon as you two can manage,"

"Sesshoumaru?" Kakashi mouthed, wary of the Taiyoukai. Shippou nodded absently.

"What for? Therapy," he said gravely, "I'll let her decide what needs to be done but I wouldn't call if this wasn't important, you know that." He said his goodbyes and flipped the phone shut, disconnecting the call.

"Sesshoumaru?" Kakashi asked again, frowning darkly even as he wrapped a comforting arm around Kagome's shoulders.

"His mate is a very powerful psychic, uncommon among inuyoukai. Neither of us can deal with Kagome's emotions as they are so I called for help. No shame in it, and between Kagome and I we can probably convince Sesshoumaru – or convince his mate to convince him – not to destroy your Village," the kitsune grinned flippantly before turning serious and touching a finger lightly between Kagome's eyes. Kakashi started in alarm as her eyelids slid closed and she went limp in his arms.

"What did you do?"

"It's only temporary. I cast an illusion on her. She's back before all this started, before the Shikon interrupted her life," Shippou sighed, "She won't remember it when she wakes, I don't think, but it will keep her from despair, which is probably the most dangerous emotion for her other than hate,"

"Why's that?"

"Because of the jewel. If it's protector allows herself to indulge in dark emotions for long then the battle within the jewel tips and it becomes impure. Once that starts then it's only a matter of time before we have another war for the jewel. Not something I want to see again in my lifetime if I can help it," he said with a faraway look in his green eyes.

"Hard life," Kakashi frowned, "Not be even allowed to lead a normal emotional life,"

"So far Kagome's been able to pull it off without even thinking about it," Shippou boasted proudly.

"But no one's perfect," Kakashi brushed Kagome's bangs out of her eyes and laid her back onto her pillows.

"If there's someone that is, then Kagome has to be very close,"

* * *

The poor staff at the hospital was completely overrun by a scowling man and a very – VERY – pregnant woman who ignored all protests that they had no clearance to get into the hospital at all much less permission to visit patients. The man and woman in question made their way with no mistakes directly to a room with the name Higurashi inscribed on a slip of paper on the door. With a single perfunctory knock the man let himself and his wife in.

"Sesshoumaru-sama," Shippou said, standing and bowing. The Taiyoukai nodded smartly at the kitsune he had all but raised after Kagome had vanished into the future.

"What happened?" he demanded, his voice never rising in volume above a quiet conversational tone.

"Let me," his mate said, waddling her way around to perch on Shippou's vacated chair. She smiled over at Kakashi who was wisely remaining silent in the face of two Taiyoukai. "Hello," she said gently, eyes twinkling at the fact he was holding the sleeping miko's hand, "You are a friend of Kagome-sama's?"

Kakashi nodded, stuck dumb by the sheer power the newcomers radiated unconsciously.

"Friend?" Shippou grinned, "Kakashi-san would be quite happy to be a husband if Kagome would agree to be his wife,"

For some reason beyond his comprehension, Kakashi blushed.

"We'll see what happens when the time comes, shall we?" she smiled, a devious twinkle in her brown eyes. With great care she settled her hand over the miko's forehead and closed her eyes, breathing out slowly.

Nothing happened. At least, nothing happened that Kakashi could see. He nudged his hitaeate up and opened his Sharingan eye. Still nothing. He was starting to really dislike working around youkai. You had no idea what was going on until it killed you.

"What happened to Kagome-sama?" the woman demanded sharply, glaring at Shippou with eyes that demanded an answer immediately.

"Some guys got her convinced that everything she did was a failure and that she's worth less than dirt," Shippou admitted grimly, "If it wasn't this bad I wouldn't have called you as soon as I did,"

"It's a good thing you did and it's a good thing Sesshoumaru and I hurried over," She frowned down at the sleeping miko, her hand still on Kagome's forehead. "I don't know what else to do. Give me five minutes,"

Sesshoumaru brought his Lady a chair so that she could work in comfort and took a position standing behind her, his hands resting on her shoulders. Shippou observed the proceedings with a critical eye from the foot of the plain hospital bed. Every male in the room was tense, whether it was outwardly apparent or not.

"What's she doing?" Kakashi whispered to Shippou.

"Taisho-sama is a powerful psychic, rememeber. She'll tell us what she did when she's done," Shippou said shortly, not wanting to interrupt the Lady's work. Tampering with minds and memories was bad enough as it was without external distractions.

"Silence," Sesshoumaru frowned at them and Kakashi felt his blood freeze and his mouth snap shut. There was something about the Taiyoukai that simply commanded obedience. The last time he had met Sesshoumaru the Taiyoukai had been almost cuddly compared to now.

The only sound in the small room was the breathing of its five occupants and the ticking of the clock that hung on the wall over the door. The monotonous sound was driving Kakashi batty. It got so bad that he actually pushed himself to his feet, padded over to said clock, took it off the wall, pulled out a kunai and started dismantling it. Needless to say, the ticking soon stopped. Kakashi left the clock pieces on a table and returned to his post by Kagome's side.

No one seemed to notice. Probably just as well that they didn't.

After several long – stressful – minutes Sesshoumaru's wife came back to herself and lifted her hand off Kagome. She slumped back in her chair, perspiration beading on her brow.

"That should be the lot. I sure hope you killed the scum who did this, Shippou-san," she said, looking quite like she wanted to spit something foul out of her mouth but did not dare break protocol and do so indoors.

"Of course. After I extracted all the information he could possibly give me and a little more. As soon as Momma is out of the hospital and installed with several of my own underlings as bodyguards I plan to hunt down the illegitimate son of a pig and skin him with my own claws," the kitsune vowed with great fervor.

"When will she wake up?" Kakashi asked, unsure just who to address.

"In a few more minutes," the Lady reassured him, "And don't worry too much if she seems to be somewhat out of sorts. I had to repress the memories of her captivity. Repression can do some strange things to a person's brain. But as far as I can tell, and I have several centuries experience in this, it's only temporary,"

"That's a good thing too. This is the third time you've had to do work on Kagome to keep her from despair," Sesshoumaru commented moments before Kagome's eyes fluttered open.

"And she bounces back better each time," his Lady sighed, "I don't know if that's a good thing or what…"

"Hello," Kagome smiled, confused. She looked around the room. "Where am I? What's everyone doing here?"

"Kagome?" Kakashi caught her attention. Kagome's blue eyes met his mismatched red and brown for a second before she blushed and looked down.

"Hatake-san? What are you doing here?"

"You fell down some stairs, Kagome," Shippou lied, "You've been in the hospital for the past week," count the days she had been kidnapped and the days since they brought her back, it was almost a full week.

"I did what?" Kagome cried, "Why don't I remember it?"

"Maybe you knocked something loose up there?" her adopted son suggested smartly with a forced wry smirk. His acting was impeccable.

"How do you feel Kagome-sama?" Sesshoumaru's wife asked gently.

Kagome shrugged helplessly. "Pretty good I guess. I feel like I forgot something but it can't be all that important if I forgot it, right?"

"In that case my mate and I will be staying with Shippou in this Village until the birth of our child. I will not risk any more travel," Sesshoumaru declared with all the air of an emperor commenting on the weather.

"You haven't had the baby yet?" Kagome gasped, surprised, "But if you haven't had it yet then why did you come all the way here?"

Everyone – sans Kagome – shared a brief glance.

"They were in the area?" Shippou offered hesitantly. Kagome lifted an eyebrow but otherwise said nothing.

"So when do you think I can go home?" she asked instead.

"Just as soon as I make some arrangements," Shippou smiled and moved closer so he could kiss her on her forehead, "In the meantime I'm going to leave you alone with Kakashi-san and drag these two down to that exquisite teahouse I saw just down the street,"

Sesshoumaru held back a longsuffering sigh and helped his mate to her feet. "You will attend to the birthing, Miko," he decided.

Kagome's eyes widened in surprise. "Me?" she squeaked, "But--"

"There are no other females in the area that I would entrust with the task,"

Kagome and Kakashi watched as the three youkai vanished through the door.

"Well, crap," the miko cursed.

* * *

AN: Poor Kagome. Had to have her memories suppressed. Lucky for them Taisho-sama is an accomplished psychic, eh? Very lucky... :shifty eyes: Chapter 6/17 


	7. Call in the Night

Disclaimer and warning: I don't own anything from this story but the plotline. Inuyasha and Naruto characters belong to other people, not me. I write for the fun of it and if you don't like my work just remember that I'm not making you read this. Please keep flames to yourself. Compliments are welcome. Criticism is a little pointless because I'm not going to go back and edit anything in this.

Please enjoy the fruits of my labour.

* * *

**Chapter 7**

Call in the Night

Tsunade had been bullied into releasing Kagome from the hospital within hours of her waking. Shippou had two slippery young kitsune assigned to tail Kagome whereever she went not even five minutes after that.

Kagome, of course, noticed this development right away and called the pair out.

"So what are you two doing following me around," she asked, amused. Kakashi was walking her home when she begged him to take a detour down a less crowded street. With many misgivings, he agreed. Now he was face to face with a pair of adolescent kitsune with obscenely bright hair.

"What do you mean?" asked the taller of the two. He had bright blue eyes, a shade that Kakashi had only ever seen in Naruto.

"Oh come on," Kagome snorted, "I'm not _that_ interesting for a kitsune, much less two, to take such an interest in me,"

"Depends," grinned the smaller. She had her silver hair decked out with ribbons and clips in a quasi-lolita style. She was also wearing more frills and lace than Kakashi thought wise. "Depends on what you consider interesting,"

"Spill it. Did Shippou-kun set you up to this?"

"Shippou-sama did request our services, you are correct," admitted the first.

"But only because we're the best," bragged the little lolita.

"The best in the area,"

"Still the best,"

"And so Shippou-sama wanted us to act as bodyguards for you, Miko-sama,"

Kagome regarded the pair with no little amount of exasperation. "Well," she decided at last, "I guess if Shippou wants you two on then I can't really complain. Just be warned, I have a busy schedule,"

"Not a problem Miko-sama," the first bowed respectfully while the second grinned impishly.

"And my name is Kagome," she sighed, "Not Miko-sama. Call me Kagome and we'll get along just fine,"

"Sounds great!" gushed the little lolita, "My name's Ka-chan and this here is my big brother Tacchi!"

'Tacchi' twitched. "Tateharu," he corrected for Kagome and Kakashi's benefit, "And Kaori,"

"We're twins!" Kaori declared latching onto her brother's arm. Kagome giggled at the pained expression on Tateharu's face. The poor boy looked even more at sea around his sister than a leaf did floating in the center of a fast moving river.

"And you two are fighters?" Kakashi asked, skeptical.

"Does a dog swim?" Kaori sniffed, "Shippou-sama wouldn't have requested us if he didn't think we could protect Kagome-sama against near anything,"

"Kaori-chan and I have been trained by Shippou-sama himself. You can be assured that we are very skilled," Tateharu reassured with more decorum.

"Ah," Kagome smiled, not fully understanding but accepting things as they were, "I guess I'll just leave you two at it. Hatake-san was just escorting me home,"

"And if we're not there in five minutes that kitsune of yours is going to have my head," Kakashi said as he bent to pick Kagome up, "He was going to call to make sure I got you to your apartment safely,"

"Then we better get a move on," Kagome smiled shyly, her hands clutching at his vest. She didn't have the courage to loop her arms around his neck, not yet. No, not yet. Right now it took all of her courage to just hold onto his vest. She could even see the kitsune siblings exchanging knowing looks.

She almost stuck her tongue out at them just as Kakashi took to the roofs.

"So," Kakashi said when he guessed they were out of hearing range, "you have some bodyguards now,"

"Seems so," Kagome smiled, "Shippou-kun always was overly worried about me, even when he was just a child,"

"A caring son?" he asked, amused.

"He's a kitsune. Once he decided I was his he'd do anything to protect me. They are a side species of dog after all and you know all about a dog's loyalties," at this Kagome laughed, "I guess it's got something to do with packs and whatnot but they haven't bothered to explain it to me so I really can't tell you all the ins and outs,"

"A pack huh? So where are you in this pack?"

"Mother. Alpha female. In Shippou's at least," she nodded, "In Sesshoumaru's pack I guess I'm probably a beta, but one who commands as much respect as any alpha. He might not listen to everything I say and he often goes over my head when I put my foot down but he hasn't killed me for disrespect yet," she smiled fondly, "That's Sesshoumaru for you,"

"So you're something of an ally or an equal?" Kakashi concluded, touching down on her apartment building roof.

"Equal? Heavens no. Sesshoumaru would never admit to having an equal. Ally, possibly. But as I like to remind him, it's more along the lines of trusted friend," Kagome nodded to herself, "Sesshoumaru's still trying to wrap his mind around the fact he has a human _friend._ As he likes to remind me he doesn't have friends, he has allies. But honestly, even his mate admits that he and I are friends, not just allies,"

"A miko friends with a Taiyoukai," Kakashi shook his head. He had pried his way into the building, the door having been locked, and now they were tripping down the stairs to Kagome's floor.

"It is kinda strange, isn't it? You think it's strange now, we were quite the odd couple back when we first started working together," she laughed brightly, a welcome sound after the deep slid into depression and self-loathing she had had to be dragged forcefully out of. "Back then it was almost unheard of for a person with holy powers to even speak peaceably with youkai,"

"Back when?" Kakashi asked as they reached her door in record time.

"Back… back just before the last Battle for the Jewel," she admitted hesitantly. She had no idea how she was going to explain the well to anyone here and she really did not want to talk about it anyways. Too much pain had been left in the past. Far too much pain.

"But that was centuries ago," Kakashi protested, dredging up what he had been told on purpose and by accident.

"Yes, yes it was," Kagome nodded, and thanked the thousand little gods when her cell phone rang, interrupting them. Someone had left her phone on her desk. She flipped it open and put it to her ear. "Hello?"

"_Ah, so he got you home in one piece,"_ It was Shippou.

"Shippou-kun, did you hire bodyguards for me?" she asked, frowning.

Shippou laughed nervously, _"Man, I thought you wouldn't notice them,"_

"Good luck on that. They may have been trained by you but they're centuries away from being about to hide their youki from me. Lee-kun maybe, but not me," she said with the utmost confidence in her abilities.

"_And with the way he's been going he'll be just about as good as you depending on how he uses his power," _Shippou agreed.

"True. Lee-kun's not as powerful as I am but he's got more martial training than I ever did so I'll leave the strategy up to him," Kagome nodded, despite the fact Shippou couldn't see. She waved Kakashi in since he had stayed politely in the doorway. Inside her little mini refrigerator Kagome found a couple of cans of iced coffee and offered one to the jounin.

"_Well, it's not like I haven't offered to train you,"_ Shippou said reasonably.

"I know. It's just with everything else I have on my plate taking up martial arts would just be suicide for my mental stability," she said with no idea why her words made both men cough a little.

"_Well, I'd like to get you trained sooner rather than later but I do agree that now, when you've got a student as well as a full time job, would not be the best time for you," _Shippou conceded.

"Glad you agree," she smiled a little and squatted down so she could see what she had in the way of food.

"_Is Kakashi-san still with you?"_ he asked suddenly. Kagome 'mm-hmm'ed. _"Can you put him on?"_

Kagome shrugged and handed Kakashi the cell phone. "Shippou-kun wants to talk to you," she said.

Kakashi took the strange device and put it to his ear like he had seen Kagome do, "Hello?"

"_Kakashi-san!"_ Shippou greeted brightly – too brightly in Kakashi's opinion. _"I'm going to tell you this now: you had better treat my Momma right or I will have your liver for breakfast,"_ and he hung up.

"What was that about?" Kagome asked when Kakashi pulled the phone away from his ear to stare at it in confusion. He handed it back to her and she flipped it closed before setting it back on her desk.

"Just some friendly advice," he dissembled.

Kagome smiled, taking him at his word. Why would he lie? As far as she knew he had no reason to.

* * *

"So did you find out who was behind it?" Sesshoumaru asked Shippou after the kitsune pocketed his cell phone. The kitsune tossed his Lord a confident grin.

"I don't work information out of people like that without gaining some results," while he spoke in nothing but light, cheery tones, his eyes were as hard as reinforced jade.

Sesshoumaru lifted an eyebrow when Shippou took too long to answer. Shippou took the hint.

"You remember Kyuubi? A nine-tails that attacked a human settlement when you were out on business about twenty-ish years back?"

"I do,"

"Well, seems he had children who want their daddy back,"

A pause before Sesshoumaru said anything, "And how old are these children?"

"Only a century or so given the description I got," Shippou shrugged fluidly.

"Although I can sympathize with their desire," Sesshoumaru's mate said, frowning, "I cannot condone the method they used to obtain their goal,"

"Working through humans," Sesshoumaru spat.

"And attacking her mind," Shippou agreed with his Taiyoukai's disgust.

"When the child is born I shall aid you in the hunt,"

"I thank you, Sesshoumaru-sama," Shippou bowed.

* * *

Kagome's phone rang in the middle of the night. She had just turned her lights off and snuggled down into her futon to go to sleep. Not three hours ago Kakashi had left, at her insistence. She did not understand why he was suddenly being so protective, all she had done was fall and hit her head. Sure, it knocked some screws around but that was nothing to worry about!

As it was, the phone was ringing and Kagome fumbled about in the dark for it. when her fingers encountered the cold plastic and metal she snatched it up and flipped it open. Anything to stop the incessant ringing.

"'ullo?" she said.

"_Kagome, get down to the hospital now. I'll meet you in the emergency room,"_ Shippou commanded.

Kagome sat bolt upright. "Is it time? Already?"

"_Yes. Sesshoumaru won't allow anyone here other than you to touch her but he did commandeer a room. How long do you think you'll be?"_

Already out of bed and snatching up some clothes to change into Kagome looked at her watch, "Depending on traffic," she joked a little, "I shouldn't be more than twenty minutes,"

"_See you then,"_ he said and disconnected.

Kagome threw her pajamas off and hurriedly slid into some comfortable day clothes. She had never been asked to deliver a child into the world before and so she had no idea what to expect. She only hoped that there would be enough time for her to consult one of the doctors before she was mewed in the birthing room with Sesshoumaru's Lady.

Oh, why did they come here at this time? Why did Sesshoumaru drag his wife, at the height of her pregnancy, all the way from Tokyo to this backwater Hidden Village? Why, why, why?

Her mind raced around in alternately confused and terrified circles as she locked up her apartment and ran, quietly so that she did not bother her neighbors, down the hall and stairs. She almost tripped halfway down one flight, barely catching herself on the railing. Cursing in a most unladylike fashion she righted herself and continued her suicidal dive to the ground floor.

When she tore out of the building she swore she could _feel_ her two shadows surprise and worry. But she paid them no mind. The streets were deserted, not surprising considering the hour.

"What's up, Kagome-sama?" Kaori asked, appearing beside her. She was still dressed in her adorable lolita outfit and, despite the delicate shoes and many short petticoats under her equally short and ruffled skirt, was keeping an easy pace alongside Kagome.

"Sesshoumaru-sama's mate is in labour," Kagome breathed, starting to pant as she skidded around a sharp corner, her fingers slipping along the wall of a building to aid her in her sudden change of direction.

"Really?" the kitsune girl squealed, excited.

"Yeah,"

"You hear that Tacchi?"

"I heard," Tateharu appeared just as suddenly as his sister.

"A baby!"

"Yeah. Shut up. I'm trying to concentrate here," Kagome said with more force than she meant. She was busy dredging up every memory that had to do with midwifery she had. So far nothing was looking too promising.

"So why have you been called?" Tateharu asked softly.

"Like Sesshoumaru's going to trust the _human_ doctors here? And you know as well as I that youkai males are not permitted anywhere near a birthing mother. It's either me or they cart her all the way back to Tokyo,"

"Then we had better get you there quickly," he decided out loud and scooped his charge up into his arms and sped up, surpassing speeds any human could reach even with the chakra that the shinobi used. Kagome squeaked and clutched at his shirt. Her hair flew all about them and she tried to push it out of her eyes but by the time she managed that he had already stopped. He set her onto her own feet once more, this time right in front of the doors to the Konoha hospital.

"Whoa. Thanks," Kagome said, feeling a little dizzy. She took a deep breath, both to buy time as she regained her equilibrium and to calm her nerves. Steeling herself against what was to come Kagome pushed her way into the Hospital.

Shippou, who had been leaning impatiently against a wall, pushed himself up to greet his mother-figure.

"Kagome," he smiled. Kagome gave her kitsune son a brief hug, inadvertently allowing him to catch some of her emotional turmoil hidden in her scent.

"Shippou-kun, where's Sesshoumaru?" she asked, pulling back.

"Standing guard,"

"Of course," she sighed heavily and gathered her courage, "Where are they?"

Shippou smiled a little and took her hand, "I'll take you there now. I'm sure Sesshoumaru-sama will be glad to get away as soon as possible,"

"The poor man," Kagome murmured taking a perverse amusement in Sesshoumaru's predicament. Shippou led her past the receptionist's desk, ignoring the calls of protest that started up as they passed without so much as a hello. He tapped the button for the elevator, ordering one to take them up. Kagome noticed how on edge he seemed to be and placed a comforting hand on his arm. The turmoil in his aura stilled a little.

"Just show me the room. I won't ask you to stay any longer," she promised. The kitsune blessed her with a grateful half-smile. The elevator door opened and they shuffled in. Three floors later saw them walking down the hall towards an agitated Taiyoukai. To the common eye, Sesshoumaru seemed just as composed as usual but to the trained eyes of Kagome and Shippou he was clearly distraught. It was the constant glaring and red-tinted gold in his eyes that gave it away.

"Sesshoumaru-sama," Kagome bowed as deeply as she could without getting onto her hands and knees, "This Kagome offers her services in assisting with the birth of your child," Offer, my hiney, Kagome thought, like you gave me much of a choice.

The Taiyoukai regarded her in stiff silence before he nodded, "Stand, Miko. This Sesshoumaru accepts your offer. Enter with my permission,"

"This Kagome has one request, Sesshoumaru-sama," Kagome ventured hesitantly. She had no clue as to how he would react but she had to ask, "I would ask permission to have the aid of one of the hospital nurses. Birthing is a great task and I am unsure as to how well I would be able to perform my duties by myself,"

Sesshoumaru glared at her, looking very much like he would wanted to do nothing more than deny her. Shippou cleared his throat. The Taiyoukai looked at the kitsune and growled. This started up a strange conversation that no human could ever hope to translate. When it concluded, not even a scant second after it began, Sesshoumaru gave his permission. Kagome bowed again and asked Shippou to call Tsunade and ask her to assist. Shippou promised and the two youkai men beat a hasty retreat to the elevator.

Kagome shook her head. Men. It was a miracle that their species had survived as long as it had.

But now she had to face the music, not to mention the inuyoukai Lady in labour just beyond the door. With visible effort she steeled herself and turned the door handle.

"Good evening, Kagome-sama," the Lady of the West greeted from her bed. She peeked over the top of her book and smiled.

"Taisho-sama," Kagome was confused. Wasn't she supposed to be in pain or something?

"Do come in," she invited. Kagome closed the door behind her and moved across the room to sit next to the bed.

"How are you feeling?"

"Like I swallowed a melon and now it's decided to come out," she laughed, putting her book down, "And as usual Sesshoumaru is overreacting,"

"He's a man," Kagome reminded her pointedly.

"That he is," Lady Taisho agreed.

"I have to admit to you right now," Kagome said seriously, "This will be the first birth I've ever attended and I have no clue what to do other than catch the kid when he come out,"

"Kagome-sama, after twenty children I'm a veritable expert," the Lady boasted confidently, "I'll be able to tell you if anything is going wrong and I should be able to coach you through the rest,"

"You sure?" Kagome asked hesitantly.

"Absolutely certain," she grinned, showing off delicate but deadly fangs, "You're talking to a master here,"

Lady Taisho's confidence and ease calmed Kagome down immensely. Now all they had to do was get through this without too much trouble.

* * *

AN: Twenty children spread over a couple of hundred years really isn't that many. I'm from a family of 10 and even that isn't all that much considering. I think it would make for an interesting family reunion with 20 kids though... chapter 7/17 


	8. On the Subject of Life and Loyalties

Disclaimer and warning: I don't own anything from this story but the plotline. Inuyasha and Naruto characters belong to other people, not me. I write for the fun of it and if you don't like my work just remember that I'm not making you read this. Please keep flames to yourself. Compliments are welcome. Criticism is a little pointless because I'm not going to go back and edit anything in this.

Please enjoy the fruits of my labour.

* * *

**Chapter 8**

On the Subject of Life and Loyalties

Shippou rapped on the Hokage's bedroom door impatiently. While he had no qualms with knocking out her personal ANBU bodyguards and picking every lock and disarming every trap just to get into her house he drew the line at ticking her off by entering her sleeping chambers, without permission, in the dead of night. Call him old fashioned.

On the other side of the door his youkai hearing – even though he was sure it would be plainly audible even to humans – picked up the unmistakable sounds of someone rolling out of bed, hitting the floor, and cursing with such fluidity that it brought a smile to his lips. Something about her language brought back memories of his childhood. Ah, nostalgia. But now was not the time to take a stroll down Memory Lane, no matter how much he wished he was centuries away from now.

The kafuffle in the bedroom reached to door and Shippou almost took a step back when it was yanked open with alarming speed.

"What?" Tsunade demanded irately.

"Kagome-sama has requested your presence," he said calmly, "Taisho-sama has gone into labour and Sesshoumaru-sama has granted Kagome's request for one Medic as assistance in the birthing,"

Tsunade blinked at him. Of everything she could have thought of this was the last on her list. So, with the brilliance of someone who has just had a figurative bucket of cold water dumped on her, she asked the one question that was running through her head at the moment.

"Wha?"

"Get dressed. I'm to take you to Kagome," the kitsune sighed and pushed the Hokage back into her room before closing the door behind her. He slumped artlessly against the wall separating them and waited.

And waited.

And waited some more. Was it just him or was she taking far too long? He knocked on her door to hurry her up.

"Beat it, youkai! It's only been a minute! Even _I _can't get dressed and prepped for a delivery that quickly."

Shippou coloured. It seemed that the tension was getting to even him. And here he had thought that he was doing so well, distancing himself from the strange scents that had erupted around Sesshoumaru's mate when her labour had started. The strange scents invoked a myriad of internal reactions that culminated into one all consuming emotion: terror. He would give his right arm to never have to be around a birthing woman again.

Maybe even his left as well if he could get a guarantee.

* * *

Naruto kicked at a pebble that had found its way into his path. For some reason he found himself unable to sleep and, given the option of lying in bed staring at the ceiling or taking a walk, he opted for the walk.

The Village was dead boring at this time of night. The only people awake were insomniacs like him or patrolling shinobi. Crazy or paid, one or the other. He knew that he should be sleeping. A shinobi needed to be rested in order to perform his duties to the best of his ability and as the Captain of the ANBU he knew that more now than he had ever truly realized at any other time in his life.

"Tra lala lala," he sang to himself, whistling a little. He quieted when he felt Kyuubi stir behind his seal.

_What is it Fox?_ he asked internally.

_That Miko-friend of yours is up and about late, isn't she?_ Kyuubi said casually. Naruto shrugged.

Maybe she can't sleep.

Unlikely. She's at your hospital-building.

Naruto paused, standing stalk-still in the middle of the street. _The hospital?_

_Indeed, brat._ The sealed youkai purred.

I thought she just got released. What's she doing there? Is she hurt or something?

_Try getting a little closer, then test the air._ Kyuubi advised with patently false innocence. It would be so much fun to see his host squirm. He did not get to enjoy too many pleasures in this leg of his life but tormenting his sometimes rather dense host was just one.

* * *

Kagome opened a window, hoping to be able to catch some sort of breeze. Lady Taisho was up and pacing the room. She did not dare leave – probably because she'd tried it in the past and had less than wonderful results. If she left the room Sesshoumaru – high on instincts and id – would assume, she told Kagome, that there was some sort of danger and would charge in, red-eyed and dripping corrosive green poison from his claws. Deadly Christmas colours.

And as amusing as it would be to see Sesshoumaru _that_ visibly agitated neither woman wanted to risk the repair bill. It was a shame really.

Both Kagome and Lady Taisho stilled when there was a knock at the door. Kagome waited for permission before crossing the room, leaving the windows, to see who dared knock on _this_ door.

"Hello?"

"Kagome-san?" It was a bleary-eyed Tsunade.

"Tsunade-sama! Come on in," Kagome stepped out of the way to allow the Hokage entrance. She peeked down the hall and caught sight of the elevator doors closing, Shippou's youki descending with the metal box. Kagome smiled faintly. Now she had a Medic backing her and all the youkai men had fled.

"Who's this?" asked Lady Taisho with avid curiosity. Kagome closed the door and turned around so she could conduct introductions.

"Taisho-sama I would like you to meet the Hokage of Konohagakure, Tsunade-sama. Tsunade-sama, this is the Lady of the Western Lands. Tsunade-sama is a Medic," she explained.

"It's nice to meet you, Tsunade-san. I understand why Kagome-sama requested assistance and I'm glad to finally meet you. I hear my mate has been somewhat overbearing," the Lady smiled and nodded respectfully.

Tsunade bowed, out of deference to the youkai Lady as well as an excuse to hide a wry smile. Thankfully it was Kagome who offered a return.

"'Somewhat overbearing?' Lady Taisho, I do believe he promised to raze the village to a soul. That's a little more that a mere 'somewhat,' don't you think?" she laughed lightly and fussed with the bed covers.

"Alright," the Lady conceded, "He's been his usual self,"

"Plus a little restraint,"

"Well, it has been a couple years since you have seen him last," she paused, eyes flicking over to Tsunade, who could not help but listen, "And people do change, even youkai,"

Kagome nodded placidly, "It's a good thing too, otherwise Sesshoumaru would still be wandering the countryside, Jaken in tow,"

"Oh, spare me the frog," she took a deep breath as a contraction hit. She hissed slowly, riding the pain out as best she could. Kagome looked over at Tsunade who took the hint and prepared to give and explanation on how to do an examination.

* * *

Naruto was shaking by the time he reached the hospital. It was a good thing he could not hear Kyuubi's uncontrollable laughter otherwise he would have been… less than pleased with his tenant. As it was there was something radiating from the house of healing that set Naruto more on edge than anything else he had ever encountered in his entire life. It was creepy!

But, being the manly man that he was, he steeled himself and pushed his way in. There were only two people he could see right away: Shippou and another man with the longest silver hair he had ever seen.

_Sesshoumaru-sama!_ Kyuubi exclaimed, _What's he doing here? Oh don't tell me it's his…_

His what? Who's Sesshoumaru?

Sesshoumaru, Lord of the Western Lands. Man! If he find out I'm still conscious he'll kill us for what I did!

_Oh great,_ Naruto snarled, _Now _I_ can get into _more_ trouble for what you did!_

"Naruto?" Shippou looked surprised to see him, "What are you doing here?"

"I, uh, couldn't sleep," he admitted sheepishly, "so I decided to take a walk and I sensed Kagome-san was back in the hospital and I was wondering why. I mean, she had just gotten released, right?"

"Kagome's with Sesshoumaru-sama's mate right now," Shippou's eyes flicked over to his Lord.

"Why?"

"Cease your infernal prattle," Sesshoumaru snapped coldly. Shippou's mouth snapped shut and Naruto felt as if he should be showing the strange youkai his belly and neck. Disconcerting, to say the least.

_Sesshoumaru's mate is birthing. That's why the miko was called._ Kyuubi offered.

"What?" Naruto said aloud by accident. One of the pitfalls of having another personality inhabiting your body alongside you was that sometimes you said stuff out loud that weren't meant for the rest of the world to hear. Now was one of those times.

"What is it?" Shippou whispered. Sesshoumaru was glaring frigid death at them.

Naruto swallowed and shook his head. It was nothing that he wanted Sesshoumaru to overhear if what Kyuubi said was true. He was too young to die! He hadn't even kicked Tsunade out of office yet!

"Well," Naruto said bravely, "If Kagome's not hurt or anything then I'm just going to be on my way," and with that he quickly bowed himself out. It wasn't until he was a good half block from the hospital that his breathing returned to a semblance of normality.

_Wise move, Kit._ Kyuubi said, nodding his mental head.

_Oh, shut up. You were the one who told me to go there in the first place._ Naruto said testily. _And what was up with that scent?_

_It's the scent of a birthing._

_But why did it make me so… edgy?_

_That's just the way it is, Kit, that's just the way it is_

* * *

It was morning before Sesshoumaru's twenty-first child was brought screaming into the world in a human shinobi Village's hospital. A girl, as if he did not already have enough daughters. Then again, he had a plentitude of sons as well. Tsunade was surprised to hear that Nishiko was number twenty-one but when Kagome explained that Sesshoumaru and his Lady had been mated for approximately three hundred and fifty years, give or take a decade or so, and that was only one child every sixteen years it made much more sense. And just a little less suicidal.

"Congratulations," Tsunade said, allowing Kagome to present the Lady with her newest child. Neither Kagome nor Lady Taisho had allowed her to touch anything. Instead, Kagome opted to work though instructions. When Tsunade asked why Kagome explained – since Lady Taisho was gritting her teeth through a contraction at that moment – that if Sesshoumaru detected any unfamiliar scent on his mate or his child then said person would meet with an untimely fate. It was just better if Kagome did all the work.

"Here you go," Kagome said with an exhausted smile as she settled the squalling bundle in her mother's arms. And, much to the youkai Lady's amusement and Tsunade's shock, promptly passed out.

* * *

Sesshoumaru frowned at his mate. "You should not be up," he stated firmly.

"Oh tosh, Sesshoumaru," she scoffed, "Kagome's babysitting Nishiko and you guys aren't leaving without me,"

"I agree with Sesshoumaru-sama," Shippou spoke up, "You just had a kid yesterday,"

"And I'm as fit as I'm ever going to be," she lied, "I want a piece of the scum-buckets that would harm Kagome-sama too,"

"You should be with our pup," Sesshoumaru insisted.

"I'm not staying here while you two go hunting. I refuse." She drew herself up impressively and _glared_ up at her Lord. The staring match of the century began.

And was promptly interrupted by our favorite mask-clad, smitten-with-a-miko jounin.

"Yo," he waved, jumping down from a roof to land beside the trio of youkai. "You're going kidnapper-hunting, aren't you?" he asked casually.

"Kakashi-san," Shippou sighed when both inuyoukai glared at the human, "you can't come. And how in the name of Inari-sama did you know what we were planning?"

"Kagome's babysitting a day-old kid," Kakashi shrugged, "The rest I guessed,"

Shippou felt like smacking himself for spilling the beans and confirming a half-baked theory.

"Kakashi-san," Lady Taisho said sternly, "We can't allow you to follow us into a possible battle,"

Kakashi shoved his hands into his pockets in a silent display of stubbornness. "I'm not useless,"

"You are human," Sesshoumaru snorted and turned to leave.

"So were the taijiya," Kakashi stated calmly, ignoring the fact he was taunting Death.

"The taijiya were trained in nothing but their art from the time they were but children," Shippou said.

"So have I,"

"They have weapons made especially for the slaying of youkai," Shippou pressed. Kakashi shrugged and pulled out a sword he had hidden somewhere.

"Kagome gave this to me. And she said to tell you that she knows exactly what she's doing,"

Sesshoumaru turned and stared at the katana for a long minute. Both his mate and Shippou were stunned into silence. The Taiyoukai's eyebrow lifted and he turned his piercing golden gaze onto the human before him.

"Do you have any idea what that sword means, human?" he asked with very little vocal inflection.

"That Kagome has accepted my suit?" Kakashi raised his own eyebrow, not mocking, but unsure if what Kagome had told him was entirely correct so lacing his voice with a small amount of sarcasm.

"It means, _human_, that Kagome has actually accepted you as a potential, as you say, husband," Sesshoumaru corrected acidly.

Kakashi blinked slowly. "That important?"

Sesshoumaru nodded.

Kakashi grinned from underneath his mask, "Wonderful!"

Sesshoumaru's scowl was blacker than the darkest night. He spun on his heel and stalked down the street. "Kitsune." He barked, "You will watch the human,"

"Well come on," Shippou urged, scampering after Sesshoumaru, "He's not protesting anymore. That means he won't stop you,"

* * *

AN: rofl! Take that next installment: Hunting. Chapter 8/17 


	9. Babysitting

Disclaimer and warning: I don't own anything from this story but the plotline. Inuyasha and Naruto characters belong to other people, not me. I write for the fun of it and if you don't like my work just remember that I'm not making you read this. Please keep flames to yourself. Compliments are welcome. Criticism is a little pointless because I'm not going to go back and edit anything in this.

Please enjoy the fruits of my labour.

* * *

**Chapter 9**

Babysitting

Kagome cuddled little Nishiko to her chest as she meandered through the now familiar streets that led from her apartment building to the Yamanaka flower shop. Many people, mostly women and girls, oohed and ahed over the newborn child, asking if it was hers. She had to admit that Nishiko was _not_ hers, much as she wanted her to be.

"Then whose is she?" asked one inquisitive girl who had been walking with her mother.

"She belongs to some very good friends of mine. They had to go out of the village so they asked if I could look after her while they were gone," Kagome explained.

"Why'd they have to go? Are they ninjas? Did they have a mission?"

"They're not ninjas but they must have something very important to take care of or else they wouldn't have left little Nishiko with me," Kagome explained patiently.

"You don't know why they left?" the little girl frowned.

"They didn't tell me but I know that they'll come back," she smiled brightly and excused herself. The mother apologized for keeping her but Kagome just brushed it off. She really didn't mind at all.

Nishiko was sleeping again. It did not surprise Kagome. Newborn children rarely did anything more than eat and sleep.

A couple more turns and one more street and Kagome found herself climbing the few steps that led to the flower shop. A bell rang as she pushed open the door and she called out a greeting when she saw that Ino was working.

"Hey, Ino-chan," she smiled brightly, "No missions today?"

"None today, Kagome-chan." The kunoichi grinned, "That can't be your kid, even though the hair looks so much like Kakashi-san's," she teased. Kagome blushed.

"No, no. Nishiko belongs to some good friends of mine. They had to go out of the village for some reason and they asked me if I could baby-sit. But isn't she darling?" she tilted the little inuyoukai pup so that Ino could see her face. Ino cooed, her face lighting up.

"She's adorable!" she reached out to brush the tips of her fingers over the feathery silver fuzz that was growing on the baby's head, "but what is with the tattoos? And her ears are pointed--" Ino looked up at Kagome, confused.

"She's an inuyoukai child," Kagome whispered fondly, startling Ino. "But her parents, as I've said, are _very_ good friends of mine. I trust them with my life and the lives of my family."

"If you say so," Ino said slowly, "But do the tattoos mean anything?

"They're not tattoos, they're birthmarks," the miko grinned now, pleased at being able to display her knowledge of the higher class of youkai, "They just mean that she takes after her father and when she gets older she'll be able to create and use a really nasty corrosive poison. So I guess you could call them her birthright. Sesshoumaru, her father, is the Taiyoukai – that's a ruling youkai – that protects and rules over these lands. He's a poison user and an awesome swordsman. His mate is a psychic, which is really rare and I don't know if any of their kids inherited that from her," she trailed off, suddenly thoughtful.

"How did you get to be friends with _youkai?_" Ino breathed, eyes wide.

Kagome smiled sadly, "It's a long story but I guess the gist of it is there was something I had to put back together but in order to do that me, along with a couple other people, one of whom was Sesshoumaru's half-brother, had to fight against an evil hanyou – that's a half human youkai. Sesshoumaru's half-brother was also a hanyou, just so you know, and the two of them really didn't get along. But, long story short, we ended up teaming up. after the bad guy was killed I became friends with Sesshoumaru," Kagome shrugged, "He's really a great guy once you get past his ice-cold, sadistic I'm-gonna-kill-you-with-a-glare-alone attitude,"

"Sounds like a keeper," Ino smiled wryly, "Tell me about the 'good guy' part,"

Kagome laughed quietly, grinning wide enough to split her face wide open, "He adopted a little human girl who had been orphaned by bandits and then killed by wolves. He _said_ it was only because he wanted to see if his father's sword would really work and bring back the dead but honestly, I talked to the guy who made the sword and _he_ said that the sword would only work if the wielder cared about the person that needed to be revived. Proves he's a softie,"

"Oi," Ino held he head, "it's too much. A _youkai_ adopting a human girl?"

"Doesn't happen often," Kagome admitted, shifting Nishiko to her other arm. It was strange how something so small could weigh so much. "Then again, it's the same for the other way around. I adopted a little kitsune boy way back when,"

"You did? What's his name?"

"Shippou-kun. He's all grown up now and has a very successful business that he runs under a human alias. He's even in town, or he was. I have a feeling he left with Sesshoumaru," she sighed. "They didn't tell me what they were up to but I have a feeling that it's nothing good. At least, not for the people on the receiving end,"

Ino looked worried, "They're not going to… attack any Villages, are they?" she asked slowly. Kagome made a face.

"No way. Sesshoumaru guards the peace in his lands jealously. The only reason why Kyuubi was _able_ to attack was because Sesshoumaru was out visiting another Taiyoukai, the Lady of the Northern Lands, I think," she said firmly, "Sesshoumaru may not love the fact that there are so many humans in the world but he's grown past hating us. It's taken him a while but he's figured out the balance between youkai and humans and now that he has he protects it."

"Balance?"

Kagome smiled and commandeered a stool that was hidden behind the counter, "Yup. Look at it this way: youkai are stronger than humans, so much so that normal humans can't even really scratch them. Miko and houshi, people like me and Lee-kun, can take down a youkai as easily as we can flick a finger, if either (a) we've been trained or, (b) barring that, we are in a life or death situation. But, miko and houshi are unusually weak against other humans. Now most of the time that's not a problem since other humans tend to make sure we _stay_ okay since we're practically the only chance they have against youkai,"

"Why are you so weak against other humans?" Ino asked as she trimmed the stems of some roses that were standing in a bucket of water.

"Because most of our life and training goes into our holy powers. Most houshi and miko I have come across don't know much martial arts and when they do fight it is with a weapon, like my bow. Miroku-sama, a houshi I knew, fought with his shakujo but many use prayer beads and sutras. Lee-kun is the only houshi I know that was trained as a regular fighter before he was trained as a priest," she laughed a little and poked Nishiko's nose, earning her a grimace, "He's going to be quite the asset to this Village if he is meant to stay,"

"What do you mean by that?"

"Well," she took a breath, "no matter what Lee does or had already planned, he will eventually either become a wanderer or find a temple. It's just the way we are,"

"Why?"

Kagome considered the timeless question carefully, watching as Ino trimmed the roses and moved on to other flowers Kagome was less familiar with. "I honestly don't know," she admitted at last.

"Huh," Ino shrugged, "Strange, isn't it?"

"Not really, if you think about it. If you wander the you can get to the problem before it gets to be too big to handle and if you stay at a shrine people know where to find you," Kagome reasoned.

Ino nodded, "That makes sense," she agreed.

"Of course it does. That's why we do it that way. What's the point in living a certain way if it makes no sense?"

"Point taken,"

"Where's Choji?"

"On a mission. He should be back by the end of the day. What about you? What happened to your job at the library?"

"Got fired. They said it was because I was missing for a week without any word," the miko sighed feeling no little bit dejected over the lose of her one source of earned income. Cheques from Shippou did not count. But now that she found out that Takemoto Hatuharu was Shippou she felt free to accept his support. Shameless, she knew. She also didn't care.

"That's not fair," Ino protested on her friend's behalf.

Kagome shrugged fluidly, "I'm not worrying about it just yet. Shippou-kun's decided to take care of me for now and I have enough saved up so that I can get by without too much trouble,"

"How'd you manage to save up that much? I thought you were just getting by," the blonde kunoichi frowned, confused. Kagome had been working at the library and even though they paid a decent, not wonderful but decent, wage it was not enough to be able to put enough aside to tide you over for even a month if you had only been working for the short time that Kagome had. So either Kagome had been living on less than Ino had thought or she had some other source of income.

"Shippou-kun has been slipping me cheques for the past couple of weeks," Kagome explained, confirming the latter conclusion, "I couldn't figure out who they were from until I woke up in the hospital and there he was. Hatake-san said that he'd been keeping an eye on me since I met up with Sesshoumaru-sama weeks ago," she smiled slightly, her eyes crinkling. "When I asked him about it Shippou-kun said that it was his turn to look out for me,"

"Sounds like a sweetie,"

"He always was,"

"Ino dear," Ino's mother called from upstairs where they lived, "Lunch is ready,"

"Coming mom," Ino called back, inadvertently startling Nishiko awake. The day-old baby wailed her protests at the top of her lungs, making quite the noise for someone so tiny. Ino apologized profusely at her slip up. Kagome hefted the child to her shoulder and patted her on the back, trying to lull her into a calmer state.

"I'm so sorry about that! I didn't mean to wake her up!"

"Don't worry. Feed me lunch and I'll forgive you," Kagome bargained with a good-humored grin.

"Mom would love to play with Nishiko-chan," Ino agreed. Kagome shook her head, following Ino up the stairs after she had turned the Open sign to read Closed.

"Not a good idea. Inuyoukai are very protective of their children. Sesshoumaru-sama would not be happy to come home and find out that I'd let a complete stranger handle his daughter," she said firmly.

"Toss that idea out the window," Ino shrugged, "Oh well. Hey mom, Kagome's here too,"

"Ah!" Ino's mother came out of the kitchen, wiping her hands on a dish towel, "Kagome-san, how are you… who's child… that's not Kakashi's is it?"

Kagome sighed and shook her head, "Why is everyone asking if she's Kakashi's?"

"Because the whole Village knows he's sweet on you, that's why. Then suddenly you start toting around the cutest little _silver-haired_ girl in all of creation," Ino said matter-of-factly, slipping into the kitchen, "What are we _supposed_ to think?"

"I'm babysitting Nishiko-chan for a friend of mine, Yamanaka-san," Kagome explained, ignoring Ino.

Ino's mother blushed and stammered and apology for her misconception. Kagome sighed. It seemed Ino was telling nothing but the truth. That would explain all the long looks she had gotten from some of the older women on the streets.

"Besides," Kagome continued, following Ino into the kitchen, "I haven't even _known_ Hatake-san long enough to have his child," she said, her face turning a hundred fun shades of pink as she blushed.

"Ooo!" Ino teased playfully, "Kagome's blushing! Kagome likes Kakashi! I knew it!"

"Ino," her mother chided, trying to stifle a smile, "Manners,"

"But mom! You have no idea how big a breakthrough this is! She's not denying it!"

"It's times like this I was a kuromiko just so I could curse you," Kagome sighed, "Nothing big. Maybe I'd make all your hair all out or something,"

"Oh you're evil," Ino laughed.

"Nah," Kagome laughed, tickling Nishiko's ears, "I'm not allowed to be evil. It's against my job description," Nishiko giggled at the assault on her sensitive ears. She babbled something nonsensical and waved her hands, trying to catch Kagome's fingers.

"What do you mean?" Ino asked.

Kagome shrugged and changed the subject, "So, are you and Choji-san planning on having children?"

Ino blushed and her mother grinned, setting plates on the table. "Why would you ask?"

"Why not? You're married to the guy aren't you? It's the logical next step," Besides, Kagome thought to herself, Kakashi already let it slip that Shippou said you're pregnant! But of course, that was none of her business so Kagome said nothing to even hint.

"Well, I guess eventually…" Ino stammered.

"Oh? Why not now?" Kagome pressed, "If you're so gung-ho about me have Hatake-san's child then why not have one of your own?"

"But… you're a civilian!"

"Bad answer," Ino's mother laughed.

"I'm not a civilian," Kagome corrected. She had allowed Nishiko to capture his finger and was now watching in amusement as the child started chewing on it, "I'm a miko. The only loyalty we have is to the protection of the balance between the youkai and human races. Other people may think that they can command us but they really can't,"

"Why's that?" Ino's mother beat Ino to the question.

"Would you trust a miko or houshi who was taking orders from someone and not doing everything they could to protect people?" Kagome asked in return, "I know I sure wouldn't,"

"I don't think I would either," Mrs. Yamanaka agreed, "I hadn't thought of that,"

"Not many people do," Kagome shrugged and stuck her tongue out at Nishiko, "It's one of those things that a miko's gotta know about though. Kinda the opposite of a shinobi that way, right? You can't really trust a strange shinobi on a job who's _not_ working under orders. At least, not usually,"

"That's true enough,"

The three women lapsed into a comfortable silence as they started in on the meal. Kagome almost moaned from sheer pleasure as she tackled the home cooked meal. Even though it was nothing much more fancy than stir-fried rice with some pickled vegetables it tasted like heaven and brought back many pleasant memories of her own home.

"This is wonderful," she said at last, "Thank you so much,"

"You're welcome," Mrs. Yamanaka smiled, reminding Kagome greatly of Ino. She could definitely see where Ino had gotten that crafty-looking grin. Idily she wondered just how long Sesshoumaru, Lady Taisho and Sesshoumaru were going to be and whether or not Kakashi had been able to convince them to allow him to follow.

* * *

AN: Mikos 101. sorry there's no action in this chapter. I was in a really passive mood writing this one. Chapter 9/17 


	10. Hunting

Disclaimer and warning: I don't own anything from this story but the plotline. Inuyasha and Naruto characters belong to other people, not me. I write for the fun of it and if you don't like my work just remember that I'm not making you read this. Please keep flames to yourself. Compliments are welcome. Criticism is a little pointless because I'm not going to go back and edit anything in this.

Please enjoy the fruits of my labour.

* * *

**Chapter 10**

Hunting

Kakashi just knew that Sesshoumaru was adjusting his speed to accommodate him. How did he know? Simple: he was able to keep up. Period. The two inuyoukai took point while Shippou ran along behind him. Kakashi was still shaking his head over the affair. Never had he thought that he would be _working with_ youkai. Never, not once.

His hand fell down to rest on the hilt of Kagome's youkai sword. He had yet to slip the blade from its sheath but he could _feel_ the sheer power that radiated from its very core. Never before had he come across a weapon that felt do deadly without anyone pushing lethal intent behind it. It had seemed so normal and benign when in Kagome's presence but the moment Kagome was nowhere near…

If anything could strike down a youkai Kakashi believed that this sword had a very good chance.

"How you holding up there, Kakashi-san?" Shippou asked, catching up with the jounin easily.

"Just fine," Kakashi said easily, "But I've been wondering about something,"

"Oh?"

"What do you know about this sword? Sesshoumaru-sama said that Kagome's giving it to me meant that she had accepted me a potential husband but is that all?" he frowned, trying to understand the full meaning.

"You're right," Shippou nodded, "That's not all there is to that particular sword. It was given to Kagome by Sesshoumaru-sama back when he decided that he'd like to keep her as an 'ally,'"

"Sesshoumaru-sama gave her this?" Kakashi was surprised, "Why would he do that? Kagome told me she can't fight with swords, she doesn't know how,"

"True, momma only uses bows as far as I know and maybe a couple other projectile weapons. No, Sesshoumaru-sama gave it to her to give to her chosen protector. Guess he was a little put out she didn't choose to give it to a youkai," Shippou grinned, "But he can't do anything about it now. Only Kagome can work the seal since he tuned it to her. And since she gave it to you the only person who can even touch it other hand Kagome is you,"

Kakashi blinked, surprised. "So why did Sesshoumaru-sama say--"

"That she had accepted your suit?" Shippou interrupted, raising an inquisitive eyebrow. Kakashi nodded. "Because she has. Which is why Sesshoumaru-sama wants me to watch your back. Kagome's lost one love already and it would kill her if she lost another,"

* * *

Shippou's words gave Kakashi much food for thought to chew on while the Taiyoukai couple tracked down their quarries. He was lost in thought for several kilometers until the three youkai around him slowed to a stop. Confused he looked around, senses spread to detect what it was that the youkai had stopped for. His senses left him blind. There was nothing they could find.

Sesshoumaru drew back his hand and snapped it forward, his youki whip destroying several trees in its path. The poor foliage crashed to the ground, burned and melting from the poison of the whip. When the destruction settled Kakashi blinked at the host of mythical looking monsters that just cutting away a few trees could reveal.

"Sesshoumaru," some of them hissed, "you know where the jewel is…"

Kakashi frowned. Sesshoumaru said nothing but his eyes narrowed dangerously.

"We will find the jewel and it will be ours, Sesshoumaru," the continued blithely ignoring their impending doom. "We shall have _so_ much fun tainting the guardian--"

When this tale is recounted later to others who were not around to witness this impressive feat even the youkai – although not Sesshoumaru, never him – will admit that they did not even see Kakashi move. The silver-haired jounin vanished from all senses as the ominous sound of a sword being drawn from its sheath echoed throughout the trees. A fraction of a second later he reappeared in the midst of the host of youkai, sword out, but he did not move.

"Kakashi-san!" Shippou lurched forward. But he did not even manage to finish that step before the low-level youkai exploded, slipped apart and fell messily to the earth.

Kakashi glared down at the obviously dead corpses and spat on the pieces closest to him. He fished out a handkerchief from one of his vest pockets and cleaned off the blade of the sword before carefully sliding it back into its sheath. With great care he stepped over and around the corpses, not wanting to get more if the filth on him.

Once out of the circle of death he looked up. His visible eye was hard, daring any of the youkai before him to protest his actions. None of them did. In fact, Sesshoumaru looked faintly pleased.

"Perhaps you will not be as useless as this Sesshoumaru originally thought," he said before breezing stoically past.

Kakashi blinked, unsure how to respond to that. "Thanks…" he said slowly, looking over at Shippou and Lady Taisho, confused. They both shrugged. What could they say? That was just the way Sesshoumaru was. The fact that he said anything at all was a minor miracle.

* * *

Shippou watched Kakashi carefully. He didn't know much about the jounin, since it wasn't _Kakashi_ that he had been following. Then again, what happened could be an attribute of Kagome's sword. It had never been used before, never even drawn, so no one really knew what it was capable of save Totosai, who forged it. Unfortunately, the old sword smith had holed himself up in the mountains somewhere so Sesshoumaru could not find him again.

But what had happened? Was that Kakashi's speed and skill that moved him so quickly that even youkai eyesight could not track him? How had he been able to vanish from all means of detection? Just thinking about it was giving the kitsune a headache. And a kitsune with a headache was a puzzled kitsune for sure.

"Kakashi-san," He said at last, "What did you do back there?"

Kakashi looked pensive, "I have no idea," he admitted at length. "All I did was draw Kagome's sword and suddenly everything slowed down. Everything was ridiculously slow, even you, Sesshoumaru-sama and Taisho-sama. When I cut though that horde they didn't even seem to feel it and they didn't do anything to stop me until after I was done. Then they all just slid apart,"

"Everything slowed down?" Shippou frowned. Kakashi nodded. "Slowed down how?"

"Slowed down as in it seemed like I was stuck in some strange speed jutsu while everyone else was trapped in a Timeslow jutsu," Kakashi shook his head, "It was strange,"

"Sounds buggy," Shippou agreed. So, that was one thing that the sword did. Handy little trick. Did he access it on purpose or did the sword have a will of its own like tessaiga and tenseiga? Honestly, it would not be all that surprising if it did have its own will and even personality.

"Do you know anything about it?" Kakashi asked after several minutes of silence between the two.

"I'm not sure," Shippou said truthfully. "It almost sounds like this sword has a personality just like the tessaiga and the tenseiga but I can't be sure,"

Kakashi frowned. He vaguely recalled Kagome talking about the other youkai swords she had come across and something about the names Shippou had said triggered the memory.

"I think Kagome told me about those awhile back," he said slowly, "but I can't remember all the details,"

"They were the swords forged from the fangs of Sesshoumaru's father. They were very powerful, in their own ways. I'd say they were more powerful than any other weapon ever created until the invention of those bombs used in World War Two," Shippou explained. Kakashi whistled low in amazement. That was powerful. "Yeah," Shippou grinned, inexplicably proud, "the tessaiga could destroy a hundred youkai with one swing while the tenseiga could raise a hundred souls from the dead. Handy if could use them. Problem with the tessaiga was that you could only use it to protect humans and with the tenseiga you had to feel compassion for the one you wanted to resurrect,"

"Why's that a problem?"

"Because Inuyasha, Sesshoumaru younger half-brother, got tessaiga in the beginning. All he wanted to be was a full blooded youkai and he really didn't like humans all that much. That left Sesshoumaru with the tenseiga and if you think he's cold now you should have seen him then! Gave new meaning to a frigid stick!" Shippou whispered the last part just barely loud enough for Kakashi to hear since he didn't really want Sesshoumaru to overhear.

Kakashi stifled his laughter but it ended up coming out as an inelegant snort anyways. Shippou grinned, looking quite like the fox he was.

"You two having fun back here?" Lady Taisho asked, dropping back suddenly. She grinned mischievously, displaying the impressive fangs that Kakashi had learned to associate with youkai.

"Of course, Taisho-sama," Shippou replied easily, "Why wouldn't we be?"

"Because you're talking about weaponry," she laughed lightly.

"Ah," Shippou shook a finger at her, "but not just any weaponry. I was just telling Kakashi-san about the swords Sesshoumaru-sama inherited from his father,"

"So he can get a better feel for his own? Sounds like a good idea. It's easier to work with something if you have a general gist of what to expect," she nodded. "You just have to remember that youkai swords take a lot of control to master because they have their own personalities. Remember So'unga, Shippou?"

Shippou shuddered, "It's not something one forgets even after five centuries of it being sealed in the gate for the underworld,"

"So'unga?" Kakashi asked, curious, "Is that another youkai sword?"

"The most evil one ever created," Shippou confirmed. "It had been sealed up in Kagome's family shrine for a couple hundred years before the seal broke and it managed to wreak enough havoc to warrant a movie if anyone actually thought that the story would sell,"

"Hey, now that's an idea!" Lady Taisho exclaimed. Sesshoumaru glanced behind him to see what was going on. "You think we could sell the script?"

Sesshoumaru shook his head at his mate's words. Honestly, who would want to watch that debacle replayed as a movie?

* * *

Kakashi had had no idea that so many youkai lived in the forests around Konohagakure. Shippou explained that there were probably more than usual because they were being drawn towards the Shikon. The more he learned about the sacred jewel the more he wished that it was not Kagome's burden to endure. Why had someone like her been cursed with the duty to protect and purify such a dangerous object? The gods must be less kind and benevolent than he had been told.

Sesshoumaru had been leading them through the wilds of the forests of the Fire Country for two days now. Kakashi was even more certain now than before that they were setting an easy pace for him because they made sure to stop for several hours every night for rest, something Kakashi remembered Kagome telling him they, the youkai, did not need to do. In fact, he recalled her telling him that Sesshoumaru boasted not needing to sleep for a month.

This put Kakashi in a strange position. He was not accustomed to being the weakest in a group. Even when he was a child he had always been stronger than his peers. Now that he was so clearly outclassed by everyone around him he was at a loss as to what to do with himself.

And now he was feeling a little sorry for himself. He really had to shake it off otherwise he was going to be useless in a fight.

* * *

Sesshoumaru stopped only once to talk to a strange hermit. Kakashi and Shippou stayed outside the small farmer's hut as the Taiyoukai couple conversed indoors. This held them back a good half hour but Shippou assured him it was necessary. Indeed, after that little interlude Sesshoumaru seemed even more confident, if that was possible. Kakashi almost shivered at the aura of bloodlust that hung about him. It reminded him acutely of his memories of the attack of Kyuubi. Not a particularly pleasant feeling.

"Sesshoumaru knows where to go now," Shippou hissed, excited.

Kakashi's hand ghosted over the hilt of Kagome's sword. He had to admit that he was quite excited as well. Finally he felt one more step closer to the filth that would go through so much trouble to torture one single miko for a cursed bauble.

Soon, he told himself, soon he would be able to rid the world of dangerous villains out for more power than was their deserved allotment. Soon…

Thankfully for Kakashi's nerves 'soon' came sooner than he could have hoped. Hours after the interlude at the farmhouse Sesshoumaru pushed his way imperiously into an unnaturally trained section of forest that had Shippou muttering compliments.

"Shame. They've got some talent," he commented to Kakashi.

"What do you mean?"

"Obviously these kids are plant-users. Just look at how the forest has been trained for optimum beauty," the kitsune pointed to specifics to emphasize his point. "It's a shame these kids want the Shikon. If they didn't they'd be able to go far with a little more training,"

"A shame indeed," Kakashi said without much remorse. It was a little hard for him to feel any amount of pity for someone who had paid for the mental torture of the woman he planned on marrying. Odd, that.

They found the kitsune 'children' in a beautifully arranged clearing. There was three of them of varying shades of red. They all looked up as one, their eyes bright and wide in surprise.

"Sesshoumaru-sama!" squeaked the smallest, a girl about Kagome's height Kakashi noted. Her brothers arranged themselves protectively in from of her.

"What do you want, Sesshoumaru-sama?" the tallest asked.

Sesshoumaru did not bother to condescend to talk to them, Shippou beat him to it.

"You hired human shinobi to capture and torture a miko, did you not?" he demanded, stepping forward.

Two out of the three look confused. The third was very bad at hiding his thoughts. His siblings, older and younger, stared at him, shocked.

Huh, Kakashi grunted to himself, suddenly amused, looks like it wasn't a family conspiracy after all. He could work with that.

* * *

AN: A-hunting we will go, a-hunting we will go! Heigh-ho the deri-o, a-hunting we will go! Chapter 10/17 


	11. Naruto and the Babybag

Disclaimer and warning: I don't own anything from this story but the plotline. Inuyasha and Naruto characters belong to other people, not me. I write for the fun of it and if you don't like my work just remember that I'm not making you read this. Please keep flames to yourself. Compliments are welcome. Criticism is a little pointless because I'm not going to go back and edit anything in this.

Please enjoy the fruits of my labour.

* * *

**Chapter 11**

Naruto and the Baby-bag

"Kagome?" Sakura interrupted her friend's thoughts.

"Hm?" Kagome looked up, blinking her large blue eyes.

"I asked if something was wrong. You've been zoning out all day,"

"Oh, nothing's wrong, with me at least," She smiled and checked how many bottles she had prepared for Nishiko, "I just have this strange feeling that Hatake-san will be coming back soon," her smile faded into a worried frown.

"Worried about him?" Sakura asked lightly. Kagome smiled ruefully and nodded.

"Silly of me. He's a grown man and in most cases I wouldn't be so worried, after all he is trained as a shinobi and I've heard he's pretty good,"

"He's one of the best," the pink-haired medicnin apprentice boasted.

Kagome's sad facsimile of a smile grew a fraction, "But he's trained to fight against other humans. Youkai are another case entirely,"

"But you said you gave him that sword of yours, right? The one that you always had propped up in the corner of your apartment?"

"True," Kagome conceded, "But I don't know if it will do him any good. After all, all Sesshoumaru told be when he gave it to me was that I was to give it to the one I trusted enough to protect me… for the rest of my life," she trailed off slowly, thoughtfully. "I trust Sesshoumaru that he would have all the bases covered but sometimes I'd like to know just what is going on."

Sakura rested a hesitantly comforting hand on Kagome's shoulder. Hesitant because Kagome sometimes radiated emotions though her aura that could be picked up though touch. Most of the time that was no problem but Sakura was unsure what was running through her friend's head and heart at the moment.

Kagome looked up into the tender eyes of Sakura, startled by the unexpected touch. Automatically she shoved down her worry so she would not project. She focused herself and concentrated on raising up her positive outlook on life. It was a well-practiced move since Kagome had no desire to alert her family to the great burden that was wearing on her very soul.

"I guess I'll just have to trust that Hogosha aids Kakashi well and that either Sesshoumaru, Shippou-kun or Taisho-sama will watch his back and make sure he come back in one piece," she smiled brightly, the vision of trust and confidence.

"Hogosha?" Sakura quirked an eyebrow, "That the sword? Appropriate name,"

"That's what I thought when I saw the seal on the pommel. I guess between Sesshoumaru and Totosai they actually settled on a name that's not a terrible mouthful and sounds so cliché," Kagome laughed.

"True," Sakura nodded, "Nice and to the point,"

"A sword that protects. Hogosha, the protector," Kagome smiled fondly and stared down at Nishiko, sleeping peacefully in the crook of her arm. "Let it live up to its name and protect Kakashi as well as me," she whispered to the child.

* * *

Tsunade frowned at Naruto. Naruto stood across from her in front of her paper-covered desk. Even after all these years he hadn't managed to gain full control over how he presented himself. Just the way he was toeing the carpet was enough proof that he knew what something on what was going on, more than he had already let slip.

"And _why_ is Kakashi not in the Village?" she repeated patiently.

"Because," Naruto hedged, not looking her in the eyes. Instead his gaze roamed the wall behind her. Nothing much to see there but it was better than having to face her deadly glare.

"Naruto." She growled dangerously.

"He's gone with Sesshoumaru-sama, Taisho-sama and …Takemoto-sama," the jinchuuriki grimaced. They had been at this for an hour. He had put up quite the fight. It wasn't his information to tell and Kakashi could get in a lot of trouble for not requesting permission to leave the Village for so long before he left.

"And _why_ did Kakashi leave with three youkai?" Not once did her voice change from the deceptive calm Naruto found so very terrifying.

"To find the people that hired the shinobi to kidnap Kagome-sama," he said slowly, grimacing, "Hatsuharu-sama managed to get one of the shinobi to reveal who had hired them. Sesshoumaru-sama and him had planned on leaving by themselves but Taisho-sama wouldn't let them leave without her. Kakashi-sensei convinced them to let him come too," he had gotten this all from Kagome. She had known something was up when Taisho-sama asked her to care for little Nishiko the day after the child had been born. Kagome had, of course, demanded why Taisho-sama was leaving her child so soon after birth and, as Naruto had found out a couple weeks back when they had been talking about something – he couldn't remember – it was _very_ hard to deny Kagome information when she put her mind to extracting it. It was the strangest thing he had ever experienced. She didn't raise her voice, life a finger or even narrow her eyes at him. But something about her aura demanded that he spill all. And spill all you would!

"And they let him?" Tsunade leaned forward in her chair, frowning, "But they're youkai…"

"Kagome gave him her sword. It's a powerful weapon. Kyuubi says he'd rather surrender before facing something with an aura like that,"

"An aura like what?"

Now it was Naruto's turn to frown as he turned inwards and consulted with his tenant. After several minutes of outward silence Naruto looked back up. "Kyuubi says that the sword is one of the rare, and very old, youkai swords. He says that there have only been a handful created and each have massive powers and a quirky personally to match. He says that the two extremes are a sword called So-unga which literally opens a portal from this world to Hell--"

Tsunade looked alarmed. "You're joking!"

"No," Naruto shook his head, "But Kyuubi says that it's been sealed for good in a place where no one can reach it until the end of the world,"

She nodded, taking the blond's word on the matter, "What about the other one?"

"The Tessaiga. It raises the dead. But apparently it's personality quirk is that the wielder, who _has_ to be youkai, must feel compassion for the one he want to raise. Apparently, according to Kyuubi again, the only detailed record of all the most powerful youkai swords in youkai history can be found in the recounting of the legend of the Shikon,"

"And what about the one Kagome gave to Kakashi. What does the fox know about it?"

"He says… he says that he felt a very powerful seal on it and that beneath the seal was more power than he even dreamed of possessing even before he was sealed inside my body,"

* * *

Kakashi had drawn Kagome's sword and was twirling it idly. Time had not changed its flow as of yet but Shippou's eyes kept flicking back and forth between him and the guilty kitsune anyways.

"Why?" Shippou demanded harshly of the much younger youkai.

He scowled fiercely, hate and malice radiating off his aura in waves palpable even to the weaker senses of the only human present. "Because we need the power it grants!" he exclaimed, a strange light in his eyes, "Because those filthy _humans_ dared _seal_ our father away!"

"You're father is safer where he is now than he would be if he were free," Shippou snarled, reacting purely to the adolescent's aura.

"They sealed him inside one of their own children!" he spat, "The shame is unbearable and the dishonour to our family is too great."

"Shuuichi--" his younger sister looked alarmed.

"Would you rather take his place on trail?" Sesshoumaru asked coldly, hand on the hilt of tessaiga, which rested familiarly on his hip alongside tenseiga. "This Sesshoumaru will gladly allow you to take your father's place if you so desire,"

The youth stepped back, clearly picking up on the danger his Taiyoukai exuded. "What's so great about one human miko anyways? Their kind kill us all the time."

Kakashi had just about had enough but Shippou wasn't done yet.

"That was my mother, you piece of filth." He growled, "You dared attack one of the most powerful miko in the history of this world and you think she does not have allies close to her, of both races? You are a fool."

"She's still a miko! Sworn enemies of youkai!"

"Mediators!" Kakashi barked, his mind swimming with all the information Kagome had imparted to his about her fate, "Miko are mediators between youkai and humans, gifted with the power to protect the helpless against those that would prey upon them. How can she be the enemy of youkai if she raised a youkai son? If she is allied to your Taiyoukai? The only youkai whose lives I have seen or heard of her taking were those who had evil intent in their hearts." his eyes narrowed dangerously and the sword in his hands reacted, humming in tune. The air around the blade wavered strangely.

"Just so," Lady Taisho said coolly, "You have hired humans, a disgrace to your name, to do your dirty work. You wished harm on one of the worlds few pure souls." Her eyes narrowed and a spark lit up her eyes, "You have been found guilty by your own words and thoughts. Stand and be judged,"

Shuuichi growled. He pushed his siblings ruthlessly out of the way and fled into his forest.

* * *

"Hokage-sama wants to talk to me?" Kagome frowned, confused and in a little pain. She hadn't set Nishiko down in hours and her arms were starting to feel the strain. "Why?"

Naruto shrugged, "Dunno, but she was just drilling me on everything Kyuubi knew about your past, especially the youkai swords,"

"Youkai swords?" Kagome looked up sharply, "Why them?"

"I… uh," he scratched the back of his head nervously, "I let slip that you'd given your sword to Kakashi-sensei,"

Kagome groaned. No. She could not blame Naruto. It wasn't his fault. It wasn't like Hogosha was all that great a secret but there were some things that she just didn't want to get into right now when she was tired and her arms hurt as much as they did.

"Fine. I'll come with you and see Hokage-sama," she sighed and bent to scoop up her bag filled with baby-care supplies. Naruto, without a word, took it from her and shouldered the bag nonchalantly.

"I'll walk you,"

* * *

Tsunade frowned out of habit when Naruto entered with only one brief knock of warning. She frowned even more, in confusion this time, when she noticed a pastel pink and green striped bag sung over his shoulder. That was a baby-bag, she didn't even have to bet on that one, she _knew_ it just by the style. What was Naruto doing with a baby-bag? Then Kagome came into view. Strange that she still could not sense the miko.

But what was Kagome doing with the youkai child?

"Hey Baa-chan," Naruto greeted brightly, "I brought Kagome-san,"

"Brat," the Hokage scowled at him for a second before giving Kagome a strained smile, "Kagome-san, please sit,"

"Hokage-sama," Kagome nodded, sitting, "Naruto-san lead me to believe you wished to know about youkai swords?"

"Among some other things," Tsunade nodded.

"What other things?"

"Things like what exactly it is you protect. A cursed jewel that grants youkai power, I know, but I don't want anymore piecemeal. I have a valuable jounin out fighting with youkai right now and I want to know the exact reasons that brought you to this Village."

Kagome regarded Tsunade with shuttered eyes. The Hokage stared back levelly. Naruto held his tongue, wisely not putting in his two cents. Experience had taught him it was best to stay on the sidelines for things like this.

"Do I have your word, Hokage-sama and Naruto-san, that what I tell you will reach the ears of no other living soul without the express permission from Sesshoumaru-sama, Shippou-kun or myself?" Kagome asked at last. Nishiko grimaced in her sleep, reacting unconsciously to the tension that crackled in the air. "If you promise then I swear I will tell you the true story of the Jewel of Four Souls and not the one I wrote five hundred years ago at Miroku-sama's asking."

"There's already a written record?" Tsunade blinked, distracted.

"Of course," Kagome frowned, "But it has been judiciously edited and romanticized. I purposefully left out many parts,"

"Wait," Naruto held up a hand, "You said you wrote it _five hundred years ago_?"

Kagome regarded him calmly, "Do you swear not to breath a word of this to anyone? Even under torture?"

"I swear," Naruto grinned.

"I do as well," Tsunade nodded, a little grudgingly.

Kagome took a deep breath and smoother her fingers over Nishiko's brow, calming the child before she woke. "Fine. Then let me being the tale of a miko, a jewel, her love, her enemy and the friends she made along her journey into her cursed destiny that started on her birthday…"

* * *

Kakashi blinked.

"Did he just run?" Shippou demanded, taken aback by the cowardly behavior of one of his own kind.

"He just ran!" Kakashi exploded. His grip tightened on the hilt of Kagome's sword and he was just about to sprint after the fleeing kitsune when Shippou held out his hand. "What are you doing?" he asked. Shippou grinned at him.

"Why waste your energy chasing him? The kit's in a forest and he's ticked off a master centuries his senior,"

"Shuuichi," the youngest kitsune child moaned, curling into the embrace of her eldest brother.

"He's the only one of you that got along with your father, is he not, child," Lady Taisho asked calmly. Both nodded.

"Rash, stubborn, impulsive, violent, near-sighted," Shuuichi's brother listed bitterly, looking away.

Kakashi noticed something strange happening to the forest. The air was still yet the leaves and greenery was swaying seductively. Shippou had his eyes closed and the fingers on his outstretched hand twitched chaotically in response to unseen stimuli. The kitsune siblings shivered as Shippou bared his fangs in glee.

"Got 'im," he growled, his voice laced with bloodlust.

"Bring him here." Sesshoumaru commanded.

Shippou nodded curtly and crooked his finger in a beckoning manner. Kakashi's scowl grew as the second ticked by. The plant-life around them quivered in response to the centuries old kitsune's power. Snarls and growls echoes off the trees as Shuuichi was dragged bodily backwards with complete disregard to his desires.

When the living vines and tree branches deposited the younger kitsune at their feet Kakashi was confused. There before them was a irate fox the size of a large dog, not the humanoid boy that had run from them.

As the grass leapt up, growing at impossible rates, and pinioned the fox to the ground in case he decided to run again the fox melted into Shuuichi and back again.

"What is wrong with him?" Kakashi asked Shippou.

"Nothing. He's just loosing his control over his youki. Since it's fluctuating his form is changing out of his control." Shippou stared down at the adolescent with distaste. "It's a pity. I hate passing judgment on another kitsune but I cannot forgive him for daring to harm Kagome,"

Kakashi felt Kagome's sword hum confidently and its aura flared for one brief instant. Suddenly the jounin knew what the sword wanted to do. Though he wanted revenge for Kagome's pain what her sword wanted would do. It was not the torture and dismemberment that he had been entertaining but it was a solution that would not make Kagome overly distressed should she hear of the deed.

He stepped forward, bringing the faintly glowing katana up as he moved. "Let me deal with him," he smiled grimly behind his mask.

* * *

AN: I have to admit i love the chapter title. A moment of sleep-deprived brilliance. And Ohh! What is Kakashi up to? Ha! You'll find out when i;m good and reay to tell you! chapter 11/17 


	12. Five Hundred Years Ago

Disclaimer and warning: I don't own anything from this story but the plotline. Inuyasha and Naruto characters belong to other people, not me. I write for the fun of it and if you don't like my work just remember that I'm not making you read this. Please keep flames to yourself. Compliments are welcome. Criticism is a little pointless because I'm not going to go back and edit anything in this.

Please enjoy the fruits of my labour.

* * *

**Chapter 12**

Five Hundred Years Ago

Kagome absently shook the pre-prepared bottle of formula for Nishiko. She had been recounting her adventures for over an hour now. Tsunade and Naruto kept interrupting her with questions which slowed down the storytelling exponentially. She was just getting to the final showdown when there was a knock on the door. Tsunade swore and called the knocker in.

"Hokage-sama--" a hapless, and foolish, shinobi stepped in, blinking in surprise when he saw that there were already people talking to the Hokage.

"What?" Tsunade growled. She was not pleased that someone had interrupted the tale of the century.

"We have been trying to get a message to Kakashi-san but no one can seem to find him," he explained hesitantly, nervous under the combined stares of his Hokage, a put out jinchuuriki and a strangely emotionless miko.

"Kakashi has been sent out of the Village on a mission," Tsunade lied, "It was last minute which is why no one knew beforehand,"

"Oh. Alright then," and he backed meekly out of the office.

Once the door was closed firmly behind him Tsunade asked Kagome to continue. Kagome checked how far Nishiko had gotten on her bottle before she took a deep fortifying breath and continued.

"Sesshoumaru-sama had joined us just before we reached Naraku's castle. We found a skeleton just as the castle came into view. Sesshoumaru and Inuyasha identified it as Kohaku's. Sango was broken. Naraku had reclaimed the shard in Kohaku's back and then destroyed his corpse until not even Sesshoumaru could bring him back to life. It was terrible, but what could we do? We were so close. Inuyasha managed to talk Sango into fighting even if it was just for revenge. Naraku had now killed her entire village with the exception of her," Kagome looked down and settled Nishiko over her shoulder and started patting the child's back, "Sango agreed to continue and I don't think I had ever seen her so focused. Even Sesshoumaru seemed to be wary of her. The closer we got the stronger Naraku's miasma got and I had to take point with Sesshoumaru so I could purify it before it affected anyone. It didn't seem to bother Sesshoumaru. Inuyasha hated that but what could he do? We had just reached someone on the middle of the road down to the valley when the first wave of low-level youkai swarmed us. Miroku could not use his wind tunnel because there were saimyosho flying amongst the youkai. Inuyasha used the wind scar and Sesshoumaru used tokijin. You have never seen anything so frightening and beautiful until you have seen those two actually fighting together rather than each other," she cracked a small smile at the memory, "If only I had had a camera. No, scratch that. It wouldn't have survived."

"Sesshoumaru and Inuyasha fought together?" Naruto grinned, "The Taisho brothers together. Must have been something,"

"Sesshoumaru hadn't adopted that name at that time," Kagome pointed out, "In fact back then they didn't even have family names. Those came later. No, Sesshoumaru was Sesshoumaru, Lord of the Western Lands and Inuyasha was just Inuyasha,"

"Why was that?" Tsunade asked.

"Sesshoumaru disowned Inuyasha after the death of their father. He was bitter but his reasons were and are his business and his alone. Back to the battle. I was fighting in the back with Shippou. The only weapon I had been trained with at the time was the bow so there was no point in me even trying to fight close-range. So I'd take out as many as I could with my _haja-ya_. I had found that if I put enough power in them they could take out nearly as much youkai as the wind scar." She smiled proudly and cooed something to Nishiko who had just belched loud and without shame. "Anyways, the first wave wasn't too bad. We managed to clear our way through it without any injuries. Next came a couple mid-level oniyoukai. Sesshoumaru took them out before Inuyasha could even lift tessaiga. He complained about that but, like always, Sesshoumaru didn't listen. And why should he? Anyways, next came Kagura and Kanna."

"They're the sisters, right? The wind user and the nihility?" Naruto asked, making sure he had his facts straight.

Kagome nodded. "Kagura took on Inuyasha and Sesshoumaru at the same time while Kanna kept the rest of us busy. She tried to take my soul again. Not a pleasant experience if you ever want to know. Not something I want to have happen to me again. It's one reason I hate going up against Kanna. Anyways, back to what happened, Kagura had Inuyasha locked up with her Dance of the Dragon and Sesshoumaru was cutting his way through her army of puppet corpses. He wasn't all that impressed. After all, he's a Taiyoukai and though he was much younger then and not as powerful as he is now he was still a force to be reckoned with,"

"Of course," Naruto nodded agreeing, "Else he wouldn't be able to hold his position as a Taiyoukai,"

"That's right. You guys have no idea how much of a warlord a youkai has to be in order to keep the rank of Taiyoukai,"

"Strongest runs the world kinda deal, right?" Tsunade observed.

Kagome smiled benignly, "Much like how your Villages are run, Tsunade-sama. But back to the story. What we didn't know at that moment was that Kagura and Kanna were being used as disposable – _very_ disposable – distractions by Naraku. Kagura, we knew, was only working with Naraku because he had her heart but while I was fighting against Kaana's mirror I could sense something from her. Mind you, that's nearly unheard of, being able to sense a nihility youkai. They are naturally invisible to every sense – including youkai senses – with the exception of sight and sound. So when I sensed Kanna's aura I was kinda surprised. But I think what got me the most was what I sensed from her," Kagome looked down, her eyes reflecting the emotions she had felt from the young void, "Kanna was terrified. She was just like Kagura only without her sister's independence. In the moment I was in her aura I saw that no matter what happened her fate would be inextricably tied to Naraku's if there was no intervention. Either she would die as a pawn in the battle or she would liver the rest of her existence out as a puppet and like Kagura that was _not_ what she wanted."

"Poor girl," Tsunade murmured.

"Tell me about it," Kagome agreed, "I was in her head for that one second but when I got out I had another problem on my plate. Inuyasha kept telling me I was an idiot for going through with it and he's probably right. Even Sesshoumaru wouldn't stop glaring at me for the rest of the week. Yeesh, you'd think I had committed a crime or something. Men!" she huffed indignantly.

"What'd you do?"

"All I did was drop my bow and arrows,"

Naruto winced. Kagome's eyes twinkled as she read his thoughts as they were written on his face. Obviously he agreed with everyone of her friends that that had been a BAD idea.

"Yes, I dropped my weapons and built up my powers as much as I could while giving into the pull of her mirror,"

Both Tsunade and Naruto were grimacing. Yup, they thought she was insane too. Bet hey, Kagome wasn't disagreeing.

"Since that was what Kanna was trying to do in the first place, lure my soul out of my body that is, she wasn't complaining. I think she would have rather died by purification than have her soul crushed by Naraku when she became useless to him. anyways, I didn't let my soul be taken completely from my body and I dragged myself as close as I could. Now, if you ask anyone who came up against Kanna's mirror and survived they can tell you that having your soul slowly sucked out is a draining experience and by the time I was within reaching distance of her I was all but crawling. Her mirror was shaking pretty badly and she was having a hard time holding it. So I took care of her problem and purified the thing. When I was done with it, it was nothing more than a normal, everyday mirror. Nicer frame than most but that was about it. I got my soul back and slapped a paralyzing sutra on Kanna. Poor girl probably thought I was going to finish her off right then."

"Did you?" asked Naruto, still frowning.

"Of course not!" Kagome was offended, "I put another seal on her so that no one without holy powers could touch her. I just took her out of danger and made sure she wasn't left unprotected. You think I would really kill a little girl who wanted nothing of what was going on around her? Maybe some miko would but not me. Anyways, I had just placed the protecting sutra on her when I was clipped with the edge of Kagura's Dance of the Dragon. Gotta hand it to the girl, she knew how to multitask at this point. Anyways, that got me a nice scar on my back that's only just healed up so it's not all angry red. Sesshoumaru got fed up with the corpse army and unleashed a nasty little attack of his, the Dragon Strike. And I though a thousand little lightning bolts was scary, you should see the dragon that tokijin called up. Needless to say that took Kagura out. She wasn't dead but I managed to get to her before Inuyasha could finish her off and gave her the same treatment as Kanna. All Kagura wanted was to find someplace quite and be free, like the wind should be. Inuyasha was a little angry at me for saving her and I guess I can't really blame him," she shrugged ruefully and set Nishiko on the floor at her feet so the child could play a bit and her arms could get a brief moment of respite. The child cooed and gurgled most adorably.

Kagome stretched her arms out in front of her and rotated her shoulders trying to relieve some of the built up stress. "So Inuyasha and Sesshoumaru were less than pleased with me at that moment. Can't blame them, I was doing some pretty reckless stuff and I probably would have been pretty upset at me too if I wasn't chasing after Sango who had decided to take off on her own and extract revenge without waiting for everyone else. She almost took off Inuyasha's hand when he tried to catch her arm to slow her down. She should have listened…" Kagome slowed her recitation and her voice dimmed to a mere whisper and the life faded from her eyes momentarily, "Naraku killed her first. Miroku lost all sense and tried to suck Naraku into his Wind Tunnel. Naraku just laughed at him and expanded it until it… until Miroku was sucked in himself. He ended up taking Sango and a good chunk of the castle but Naraku hadn't budged an inch."

"Kagome--" Tsunade looked stricken as silent tears welled up in Kagome's eyes. Naruto passed over a stained handkerchief, feeling a little out of his element. He never had been good around tears. They brought back too many childhood memories.

"Just like that. There was no way Sesshoumaru could raise them now. He needed the body for that. Now it was just Inuyasha, Sesshoumaru and me. I had left Shippou with Kagura and Kanna to watch out for them. He wasn't happy but I couldn't let him come up against Naraku. What if he ended up like Kohaku?" she sobbed, "Shippou-kun was the only thing I had left there. Inuyasha would love Kikyou until the day he died and Sesshoumaru would only ever be a friend, and a distant one at that. Shippou was my _son!_ I had to make sure he would be safe,"

"Like any good mother," Naruto whispered, longing stabbing his heart. That was one thing he had lacked growing up, one thing he had dreamed of. A mother. Any mother. Someone who would have loved him even just a little.

"Naraku… Inuyasha charged him first. I had barely remembered to bring my bow. I tried to catch him with my arrows and I actually did manage to land a couple of shots but he had three quarters of the jewel and my arrows didn't do much. He just yanked them out and gloated as he healed almost instantly." Now she was scowling, furious at the evil hanyou, "Sesshoumaru, pretty much ignoring the fact that Inuyasha was in the way, unleashed his Dragon Strike that nearly leveled the castle. But Naraku had a shield up. Inuyasha took care of that only to get a tentacle through his shoulder. Sesshoumaru called up another Dragon Strike and this time managed to push Naraku back. I got him with a _haja-ya_ in the chest just as the Dragon Strike hit in full force. It was almost like what happens when I work with the Wind Scar only a little more explosive. It was a good minute or three before rocks stopped falling. I think I got clipped with more shrapnel from that stunt than in the entire battle," she snorted and rolled her eyes, "Just figures you know. Then again I shouldn't have been surprised, one of my favorite proverbs that I picked up was 'friendly fire isn't.' Describes that situation just perfectly. Anyhow, by the time the smoke settled – man does that ever sound cliché – Naraku was just a little more than a floating head and a shoulder. I have seen some pretty gross things in my life but that just took the cake. Inuyasha was back up by now. Yelling at Sesshoumaru for taking all the glory but at least he was on his feet. And he was mad. So he decided, thankfully, to take it out on what was left of Naraku. Seemed we all had the same idea because Inuyasha did a Wind Scar, Sesshoumaru preformed another Dragon Strike and I fired my last arrow,"

Now Kagome was grinning madly, feeling an unholy amount of satisfaction at the memory. "If I had thought that the last explosion was a whopper this one took the cake home, hands down without even a vote. I think that all that's left of that particular castle and the valley it was in is an even deeper valley. It had taken two exceptionally powerful youkai and myself working together to kill Naraku. I found the shards and repaired the jewel that day. I had thought that would be the end of it. Kagura and Kanna were released with their hearts and they left to find somewhere very remote where they could live on their own. I don't know what happened to them after that but at least they were their own people," she smiled fondly down at Nishiko. There was only a hint of sadness in her smile now, "Inuyasha decided to go with Kikyou and Sesshoumaru had to get back to Rin. He took Shippou-kun and me as far as Kaede's village and offered to train me in defense and whatnot. I knew I still had to look after the jewel so that we didn't end up with another Naraku on our hands so I agreed." She grimaced, "Note: never train under a Taiyoukai if you can get out of it. They have no concept of human limits or even what exhaustion is. It's just not fair. And Sesshoumaru was the worst! He's got effortless effort down to an art!"

"Effortless effort?" Tsunade grinned a little, "Isn't that a contradiction?"

"You've never seen Sesshoumaru fight," Kagome shook her head, "If you think he looks pretty now you should see him in his element. I'm fairly sure there's a healthy dose of toushin blood in his veins because there is nothing more hauntingly beautiful than Sesshoumaru in the heat of a bloody battle,"

"Toushin?" Tsunade asked.

"War Gods, they call themselves," Naruto explained, "They live for nothing but the battle and are the dictionary definition of bloodlust."

"Not nice to fight against. Especially if they're working in groups…" Kagome shuddered at another memory, "but back on topic. Sesshoumaru trained me for a year. A year of pure torture with brief intermissions when I talked him into letting me go home for a week at a time. When I went back through the well at the beginning of this year it sealed itself behind me. I couldn't go through anymore. I had left Shippou behind. And Rin too. I had been helping Sesshoumaru raise her, since he was hopeless when it came to little human girls. Little girls period. Men. Youkai men. They're worse, more stuck up and too proud to say they care." She smiled for a scant second before her expression dropped again, "but I had left them. I didn't know what to do. My entire life was five hundred years in the past. I hadn't even finished school. The only thing I could do was take over the duties of shrine keeper,"

"Then why are you here?" Tsunade asked after Kagome paused for longer than she wanted.

"Because even though Naraku was killed the Shikon still drew power-hungry youkai to it like a magnet." Kagome sighed and ran a hand through her hair, "You imagine trying to fight off a hoard of a couple hundred low-level in the middle of a city and what I had to do to keep it a secret. I gave up. It would be easier, I thought, if I went to ground and moved into a smaller community. Less people in danger and it's easier to get out of the village and head off the swarm before innocents were victimized. And my distance keeps my family safe,"

Tsunade nodded. Her reasons were understandable, laudable even. The girl had as much courage as the best of Konoha's seasoned jounins and then some. Most of the older generation still had nightmares from facing one_ low high-level_ youkai and this little miko had faced off against what went down in select histories as the most evil and corrupt hanyou in written records.

"But why Konoha?" Naruto asked, tilting his head to the side.

Kagome sighed wryly, "Momma didn't want me moving completely away from family. Lee-kun's my cousin on my father's side and that's the only reason why she consented to me moving here," she laughed, "She worries that I wouldn't be able to take care of myself. I never did tell her everything that happened in the past. I could just imagine her reaction and I don't want her in the hospital with a heart attack,"

Suddenly, without an ounce of warning, Kagome stiffened and stared out the west windows. Tsunade and Naruto shared an alarmed glance. Kagome's expression was a bizarre mixture between confusion, relief and fear.

"Kagome-san?" Naruto started, "What's wrong?"

Kagome frowned a little, "I don't quite know. But I feel Hogosha pulling at me,"

"Hogosha?"

"The sword Sesshoumaru gave me forged from one of his own fangs," she explained absently, "He had it made a couple months after I started training under him. He even had a specialized seal put on it. I was never able to draw it. The seal would only release for the one person I chose as my protector…"

"Kakashi-sensei?" Naruto coughed, eyes wide, "You gave it to Kakashi-sensei?"

"Naruto told me that Kyuubi sensed more power in that one sword than he had before he attacked this Village," Tsunade frowned.

Kagome shrugged fluidly, "What do you expect? It's made form the fang of a greatly feared and respected Taiyoukai. Totosai may have been old but his talent hadn't diminished. If anything he outdid himself forging Hogosha. It's probably the only youkai sword that a human can wield,"

"And you gave it to Kakashi-sensei," Naruto wondered out loud, sounding quite impressed, "Does that mean you and he are going to get together?"

Kagome blushed bright red and stammered, "What? What makes you think that we, that I, that…"

"Kagome likes Kakashi-sensei!" Naruto teased. Tsunade laughed as Kagome blushed even harder. "Good thing too. He's practically given up everything that made him so annoying ever since he met you,"

"He's on time now," Tsunade agreed.

"And he hasn't been reading those books of his," Naruto pointed out.

"Books?" Kagome asked innocently, blinking her big sapphire eyes at them in confusion.

Naruto grinned at Kagome's innocent question. Should he tell? Oh, the possibilities!

* * *

AN: a rather lengthy explanation of what happened way back when. I figured i had to have it hashed out if not for you then for me. Chapter 12/17 


	13. Date

Disclaimer and warning: I don't own anything from this story but the plotline. Inuyasha and Naruto characters belong to other people, not me. I write for the fun of it and if you don't like my work just remember that I'm not making you read this. Please keep flames to yourself. Compliments are welcome. Criticism is a little pointless because I'm not going to go back and edit anything in this.

Please enjoy the fruits of my labour.

* * *

**Chapter 13**

Date

Kakashi whistled happily as he entered Konohagakure. He was looking quite smug and Shippou, who was walking by his side, was grinning like a fool. Sesshoumaru and his mate had gone on ahead to retrieve their daughter from her minder leaving Kakashi and Shippou to make their own way back. Not that either of them minded. Shippou was having a blast getting to know his prospecting 'step-father' and Kakashi was drilling Shippou on everything the kitsune knew about Kagome's adventures in the past. It was plain as the nose on his face to Shippou that Kakashi was smitten with Kagome and Shippou was ninety-nine point nine per cent sure that Kagome felt the same way.

Yea!

Konoha hadn't changed in the few days that they had been gone. People, civilian and shinobi, wandered around going about their business. Some called out greetings to Kakashi and many girls tried to flirt with Shippou, who had tossed back on his Hatsuharu illusion. Shippou lightheartedly flirted back.

"Kakashi-san!"

Kakashi grinned. _That_ voice he knew well, but never before had Kagome called him by his given name. It made his day.

"Kagome-chan," he smiled at her as she pushed her way through the crowd.

"Kagome!" Shippou grinned and scooped his adopted mother into a crushing bear hug.

"Ack!" She squawked, taken by surprise, "Hey, why did you guys have to leave anyways? No one told me and I felt the strangest thing through Hogosha yesterday," she complained as Shippou set her back on her feet.

Poor Kagome. If Shippou answered her she didn't get to hear. Kakashi, grinning like a fool, tugged her into his arms and puller his mask down. Kagome's gaze was captured and he bent down to claim her lips in a kiss he had been longing for. Kagome, taken by surprise, didn't react for a second. Slowly her eyes closed and she gave in. She clutched at the reinforced fabric of his jounin vest as a lifeline.

Shippou grinned at the couple. People on the street stopped and stared in shock and awe. The near-legendary bachelor Hatake Kakashi was kissing a woman in the middle of the crowded street in the middle of the day. And the man that had been so familiar with the woman in question was watching the action with a face splitting grin.

It seemed that the rumors that had been floating around the Village about Kakashi finding love were validated. Who would have thought.

Kakashi finally pulled back and grinned down at a dazed Kagome. It took her a couple seconds to come back down to earth and when she did she managed to pull of a rather convincing impression of a tomato. Her reaction only fed Kakashi's ego.

"I can't believe you just did that!" she cried buried her face in his vest.

"Come on, Momma," Shippou laughed, managing to confuse everyone who was listening in, "It's not like you were fighting him,"

Kagome turned a halfhearted glare on the kitsune, "Have more respect or I'll be forced to resort to a rosary,"

Shippou shut his mouth but couldn't stop grinning.

"Kagome!" Ino called, waving wildly to catch her friend's attention. Kagome groaned and tried to pull away from Kakashi. He didn't let go.

"Hey Ino," Kagome smiled through her embarrassment.

"So, is it official?" the blonde asked with a knowing smile playing on her lips.

"Oh, it's official," Shippou answered.

Ino laughed madly and pumped her fist in triumph. "Yes! It's about time. You two have been making puppy eyes at each other for _ages_! Just wait until I tell Forehead-girl!"

Kagome groaned. Give it fifteen minutes and the entire Village would know. No joke there. Between the people who had witnessed the public display and Kagome's two kunoichi friends no one breathing could escape the gossip.

"So, when's the wedding?"

* * *

Shippou had laughed all the way to Kagome's little apartment and Kakashi had yet to stop grinning like a madman. Kagome was trying her level best to vanish underneath the arm Kakashi had draped over her shoulders. She feeling a little overwhelmed. The only other vaguely romantic experience she had had before this was with Inuyasha and nothing had ever come out of that relationship other than a lot of confusion and heartache.

But now she had Kakashi, who seemed quite at ease with his feelings. It made Kagome smile.

"Kagome-chan!" her thought were interrupted by the call of the Green Beast of Konoha jr. "Kagome-chan! I have heard the wondrous news! Congratulations on this joyous celebration of Youth! Congratulations to you as well Kakashi-san!" Lee exclaimed loudly and with great gusto.

"Thanks Lee-kun," Kagome laughed nervously. "By the way, I'm sorry for not being able to train you these past couple of days. I kinda got roped into babysitting for a friend of mine,"

"Not a problem Kagome-chan. While you were indisposed I have been honing my skills on my own, training as a good shinobi should," he grinned and flashed an overly bright thumbs up.

"That's great," she sighed in relief, "I'll see you tomorrow? I've got some things to do tonight,"

"The tomorrow it shall be! I shall be ready to learn and explore your expert teachings--"

Kakashi cut Lee off before he waxed too poetic, "That's great Lee. I think I see Sakura-kun over that way," he pointed down the street. Sure enough, Sakura was down the street, oblivious to their presence. Lee excused himself and wished Kagome and Kakashi luck before dashing away.

"Oi," Shippou grinned, "Thanks Kakashi. I never thought a relative of Kagome's could be that strange,"

"Lee was trained by Gai. That should say it all," Kakashi shrugged.

"It might if I knew this Gai," Shippou said.

"I haven't met him either," Kagome piped up, "Is he really like Lee-kun?"

"Worse. Let's leave it at that," Kakashi passed a hand over his eyes, groaning.

"Anyways," Kagome said, changing the subject when a strange gleam lit up Shippou's eyes, "Who's up for some dinner? Shippou's treat since he can afford it,"

"Hey!" Shippou protested.

"Sounds like a plan to me," Kakashi smiled down at Kagome.

"Hey! Why is it my treat?" Shippou demanded.

"Because I'm out of a job and Kakashi works on commission," Kagome explained, "You on the other hand, happen to own a couple very well off companies and businesses and have cash to spare,"

Shippou tried to grumble about how unfair that was but Kagome poked him in the side and tweaked his ear. That put an end to that as he could not help but bat her hand away like a playful kitten. It just killed the mood he had worked himself into.

"Fine. My treat," he conceded. Kagome gave him a bright smile.

"Wonderful! You two pick me up at my place around six. Dress nice!" and she slipped out of Kakashi's grasp and vanished down the street. Shippou and Kakashi watched, bemused, as Kaori and Tateharu ran along the street (Kaori. Why let that awesome lolita outfit go to waste by not showing it off?) and the roofs (Tateharu. Who needs to use streets when there are perfectly good roof tops available and much less crowded?) after her.

"You still have them on her?" Kakashi asked.

"I'll always have someone on her. You can't be there for her all the time," Shippou replied, shrugging.

"I'm not complaining, just asking. Kagome will need all the protection she can get what with that jewel,"

"Tell me about it. I lived through the last fiasco it caused,"

"Do you know where she would want to go?"

"Not a clue."

"Hm," Kakashi sighed and sauntered off, heading towards the Hokage tower, "See you at six," he waved over his shoulder.

"Don't be late," Shippou called after him.

Wouldn't dream of being late for something like this, Kakashi thought with a contented smile.

* * *

Six o'clock sharp there was a knock on Kagome's door. Kagome, who had been ready for a good fifteen minutes already and was reading a book while she waited, answered after only the second knock. Waiting for her in the hall was Shippou, whom she had sensed but hadn't thought to open the door for, waiting for him to be ready, and Kakashi. Shippou was dressed in a sharp looking gi and hakama ensemble in deep rust and navy blues that complemented his natural colouring very nicely. Kakashi was dressed in something much more casual than Shippou, but still nicer than what he usually wore. And although Kagome could not see them she was sure he was armed to the teeth, as per usual.

"Good evening, beautiful lady," Shippou bowed with a playful grin playing on his lips. Kagome giggled when Kakashi rolled his eyes and winked at her. Her kitsune son would defiantly be the odd one out during this little outing. Kagome had forgone the traditional, as Kakashi had also, for a light western style skirt and peasant blouse. It was warm out during this time of the year so she didn't worry about the nighttime chill.

"Why good evening, my good sir," she fluttered back, playing along, "What brings you to my humble door?"

"We heard there was a lady in dire need of an escort," Shippou said with a straight face. Kakashi was grinning beneath his mask, Kagome was certain.

"You had heard correctly, I'm afraid," She sighed dramatically, a hand lifting to rest at the base of her throat for emphasis, "I have been waiting ever so long. How may I ever thank you for coming to my rescue?"

Now Shippou cracked, "Rescue from what, Momma? Another night reading cheesy, overdone romance novels?" he laughed and drew her into a tight embrace.

"Hey! I try to keep the romance novel fix to a minimum." she protested, returning the hug.

"Hey," Kakashi protested, pouting a little at being left out, "What about me?"

"What about you?" Shippou asked with obviously false innocence. Kagome poked him in the side and moved out of his embrace to give Kakashi a peck on the cheek. He reciprocated the action by claiming a kiss full on her lips. Not that Kagome minded, not at all. At least this time there was not anyone – sans Shippou – watching the public display of affection. Though the kiss lasted all for maybe three seconds Kagome's face was bright red when he finally pulled away.

"Shall we go?" he asked. Kagome nodded, somewhat resentful that he seemed to be so composed.

"Let's," Shippou said agreeably. Kagome thanked the gods that Shippou had decided not to tease. Although, she was sure, that would come later. Sure as the sun would rise.

"Just let me get my purse," she said quickly and hurried to collect her things and slip on a pair of sandals.

"You sure you're going to be warm enough?" Kakashi asked when she did not gather a coat as well.

Kagome tossed him a saucy grin and a wink, "Why do you think I have you?"

"She's got you there," Shippou laughed and claimed her left side while Kakashi tucked her under his arm.

"So where to?" she asked as they exited her apartment building.

"Well, I found this really quaint ramen stand a couple streets over," Shippou said seriously. Kagome elbowed him in his side. "Alright, alright! I made reservations for us at a top star restaurant downtown,"

"Better," Kagome smiled.

"What restaurant?" Kakashi asked.

"Some Italian place. Luigi's or something," Shippou shrugged, "I'll know it when I see it. I'm bad with names, always have been,"

"Sad, isn't it?" Kagome sighed tragically, "He's over half a millennia old, true, and while he's young his memory is already deteriorating,"

"Hey!" Shippou protested, "It's not going, what are you talking about?"

"Sure it's not Shippou, we understand," Kagome smiled mischievously.

"So mean," he pouted.

"You poor child," Kakashi said blandly, not twitching a muscle. Shippou stuck his tongue out at the younger man. Much younger.

"Now boys," Kagome laughed, "Do I have to separate you?"

"I believe you already have," Kakashi grinned.

Kagome blinked, "So I have," she said with patented awe, "I'm so on the ball today,"

Their friendly banter carried them through the streets of the ninja filled village. It was enough to distract Kagome from the fact that people kept casting them amazed glances. Then again, if you think about it you can't really put them at fault. After all, their Village's number one confirmed bachelors was strutting the streets with a ladyfriend tucked neatly under his arm. Who could have predicted that one? Well, you will have to concede that there is probably someone out there that could have predicted it but for the sake of argument let's just say that everyone was surprised. And this is _after_ the rumors of what he did earlier that day had made their rounds.

But we digress.

The restaurant was indeed Italian as Shippou had recalled. It was also called Luigi's. They were led to their table by a very polite waiter. Shippou bemoaned the fact that there were no women waiting the tables. Kagome snickered at her son's misfortune.

"You poor boy," she consoled him, "What are you ever going to do?" then she paused, a thought striking her, "Come to think of it Shippou-kun, why don't you have a girl? You've had more time than I have,"

Shippou sat up straight, spluttering, "Hey! It's not like I haven't been looking, you know. Kitsune mate for life and..." he trailed off, looking around the restaurant nervously. His outburst had garnered quite a bit of attention. His words gathered even more.

"Oops," Kakashi murmured, grimacing.

"Uh oh." Shippou groaned, slouching.

"Uh oh indeed," Kagome agreed, sighing heavily. Then she spoke with a louder voice, one meant to carry, "Takemoto-sama, what kind of a quote is that? It can't be founded in research. As a miko trained in the traditional art I refuse to allow this sort of drivel to be produced as a play," she leaned over the table, putting on a show for their eavesdroppers, "If you must produce a play about those infernal youkai then at least get your facts straight. Now," she sat back in her seat, "shall we go over what you have got?"

Shippou blinked at her, taken aback for a mere second before he nodded and started talking, with less volume than before.

"Quick work there, Kagome," he congratulated her.

"I'm impressed," Kakashi complemented her, "Although I don't think that people are going to let that go as easily as you'd hope,"

"Darn," Kagome pursed her lips and displeasure.

"Don't worry about it," Shippou reassured her, "Just start working more hours at the local shrine and word will get out that you really are a miko. People still think that miko and houshi are only around for the soul point and purpose of exterminating youkai,"

"So," Kakashi continued, catching on, "people will assume that since you are a miko you wouldn't associate with youkai,"

"Exactly," Shippou grinned triumphantly.

Kagome's gaze moved between the two men she was sitting with, a slow smile creeping onto her face. "You two are devious, you know that?"

"Of course I am," Shippou preened, "it's in my blood. It's Kakashi that you should be amazed at,"

Kakashi rolled his eyes. He was starting to get used to this youkai attitude, a frightening thought if there ever was one. But then again, if he was going to be a part of Kagome's life he would have to get used to her humanity-challenged friends just like she would have to understand exactly what he did for a living. Then again, judging by what he had learned of her past, she should not have too much trouble with that.

Lucky him!

"You guys ready to order?" Shippou asked out of the blue.

* * *

AN: And Kagome and Kakashi's first date. Of course Shippou had to tag along! Chapter 13/17 


	14. A Lesson in Teamwork

Disclaimer and warning: I don't own anything from this story but the plotline. Inuyasha and Naruto characters belong to other people, not me. I write for the fun of it and if you don't like my work just remember that I'm not making you read this. Please keep flames to yourself. Compliments are welcome. Criticism is a little pointless because I'm not going to go back and edit anything in this.

Please enjoy the fruits of my labour.

* * *

**Chapter 14**

A Lesson in Teamwork

Kagome picked up her cell phone with a slight frisson of trepidation running over her nerves. Her call home was long overdue and she was sure that her mother would like to hear from her sooner rather than later. Especially considering what had been going on in her life.

She flipped through her directory and okayed the phone number that she had called her own for most of her life. The phone rang a time or three before it was picked up.

"_Hello?"_

"Souta?" She smiled, "How have you been?"

"_Kagome!"_ He exclaimed, suddenly excited, _"It's you! Why haven't you called? It's been ages."_

"A couple of things came up," she said casually, "You know, the usual fight the power-hungry youkai and fall in love bit. Nothing big,"

"_Sounds like fun. Fall in love, eh? You gonna tell mom about it or is it not that kind of 'fall in love?'"_

"If you'd put her on you'd find out yourself, you know," she teased. She was surprised to have the phone change hands almost that instant. Their mother must have been listening in.

"_Kagome, how have you been? It's been so long since you called,"_ her mother chided.

"I've been doing great Momma. I've met up with Sesshoumaru, his wife and Shippou too. Even Koga-kun made an appearance, not that that was a big surprise,"

"_And how are they doing?"_

"Sesshoumaru has a new daughter. I had to deliver it for them," she smiled faintly at the memory. "Shippou's doing fine as well. He's going by the name Takemoto Hatsuharu. You can google him if you want to know exactly what he's got his fingers into now," she said.

"_Google? Is he that well known?"_

"Well," Kagome grinned, "get Souta to work the Internet for you and you can see for yourself,"

"_I will," _her mother promised, _"And what have you been up to? How's your job at the library?"_

"The job? It's, well, it's kaput, Momma," she admitted with a heavy sigh.

"_What happened?"_ her mother sounded somewhat alarmed, not that Kagome could blame her.

"I took a fall and missed a couple of days, a week I think, because I was in the hospital. It's nothing major, just a bump," Kagome reassured as best she could without lying.

"_But why didn't they hold it for you?"_

"Because I was out cold for a couple of days and no one thought about it," she sighed, "But it's alright. I've decided to work some more at the shrine here and I've met someone who I..." she hesitated, "I think I'd like you to meet him, Momma, I really do,"

"_Oh?"_ Kagome could practically hear her mother's knowing smile, _"And does this someone have a name?"_

"His name's Hatake Kakashi," Kagome smiled fondly when she said it.

"_Oh? And just how long have you known Hatake-san?"_

"We met on my first day here. I told you about my friend Ino, right?"

"_Yes,"_

"Well, she introduced me to someone who lives in my building, Naruto-san, and she made him take me out for lunch. That's when I met Kakashi. He used to be Naruto's sensei but he's teaching a couple new kids now,"

"_So he's a teacher? What subject?"_

Infiltration and assassination, Kagome thought with a laugh. "He's a shinobi, Momma."

There was an ominous silence over the line for several seconds. _"What?"_

"He's a shinobi, Momma. Many of the people in Konohagakure are in some form or another. It's nothing really special here,"

"_I'm just worried for you, Kagome. The last time you allowed yourself into a relationship with a fighter it hurt you so badly,"_

Kagome smiled. She loved her mother. Honestly, she could not have asked for a better family if she had tried. "Inuyasha made his choice, Momma. This is my choice. Kakashi is a good man and I think you'd like him. He's asked me to marry him and I've said yes. I just want you to meet him before the wedding,"

She could practically hear her mother's smile, _"When would be good for you for us to drop by?"

* * *

_

"Meet your mother?" Kakashi blinked his one exposed eye at Kagome.

"And my little brother and grandpa," Kagome added. "I had to tell them about us sometime before the wedding, you know,"

"I guess so," Kakashi sighed. Kagome was walking with him towards the training grounds where he was to meet up with his new students. She had nothing else to do that day. They did not need her help at the shrine and if they did they knew how to find her. Lee was off on a mission and both Ino and Sakura were busy with their own lives. So she had asked Kakashi if she could sit in on the first examination he would put his kids through. It had taken some wheedling but he caved and now here she was.

Kagome was no stranger to where the training grounds were. She did work with Lee in any unoccupied training grounds available after all. So when Kakashi led her straight into a dense forest she wasn't worried at all. They wound their ways through the trees and foliage for a minute or two before they came upon a clearing and three children around the ages of ten to thirteen.

"You're LATE!" shouted one of the children although all three looked more than just a little annoyed. Then they all paused, looking very confused when they caught sight of Kagome.

"Um," the bravest – a red haired boy with melted chocolate eyes and a heart shaped face that would surely break hearts when he got older – ventured, "Sensei? Who is she?"

"My name is Kagome," Kagome introduced herself, "What about you?"

"Minoru," he toed the ground nervously.

"It's nice to meet you Minoru-kun," Kagome smiled warmly. "And what about you two?" she turned to the others.

"I'm Take," said the brunet boy.

"And I'm Asami," finished the only girl, "Why are you here? Are you helping out Kakashi-sensei?"

Kagome looked up at Kakashi, who had stood back, folding his arms over his chest. "Kagome-chan is going to help you three out by putting me at a disadvantage,"

"Oh?" Kagome arched an eyebrow. This was news to her. "I'm a disadvantage?"

Kakashi nodded and grinned, "You are going to play good little helpless civilian while you three," he turned to his students, "are going to try to get these bells off of her with me protecting her. This puts me at a disadvantage because I have to keep you away from a target rather than just keeping you away from myself,"

Kagome blinked.

"Hey!" Takeharu and Kaori appeared in the clearing as if by magic, "We can't allow this! Shippou-sama would kill us if anything happened to her."

"Calm down you two," Kagome placated, "I want you two to stay out of this. If anything happens I'll tell Shippou what happened myself and bail you two out of whatever he wants to do. Deal?"

"Kagome-sama," Kaori's lower lip quivered.

"Final offer." Kagome put her foot down, "This could be fun. Besides, I think it would be good for the kids,"

Tateharu heaved a sigh and nodded, "Whatever you wish, Kagome-sama," and her kitsune bodyguards vanished reluctantly into the foliage.

"Whoa!" the kids breathed, "Who were they?"

"My son's minions," Kagome muttered, laughing a little. Kakashi snorted. The children did not catch what she had said.

"Anyways," he said, "Back to business."

Kakashi handed her two bells and told her to tie their ribbons to the belt loops on her pants. She followed her instructions, frowning a little in confusion.

"Hey!" Take exclaimed indignantly, "There's only two bells!"

"Very astute of you," Kakashi smiled brightly underneath his mask, "And if you can get a bell then you pass. If not..." he trailed off ominously.

"What!" they all complained.

Kagome's mind was racing. Naruto had told her about this test. Apparently Kakashi had given it to him and his team years back. There was a catch to it that was very hard to see right off.

"Those are the rules. Did you all skip breakfast like I told you?" Kakashi quizzed. The miserable expressions on the children's faces gave him his answer even before they nodded. "Good," he pulled out an alarm clock, set it to ring at noon and placed it on top of a stack of boxed lunches, "You have until noon to get the bells. Anyone caught trying to eat before then will have to watch everyone else eat," He said it with such finality that none of the children dared argue. "Any questions?"

One hand made its way into the air. It was Minoru. Kakashi nodded at him. "Um... sensei, why did you bring in a civilian? Isn't that a little dangerous?"

Kagome almost laughed. Like these kids could be any more dangerous than what she faced as a matter of duty.

"Kagome-chan is quite capable of taking care of herself, though she is not a shinobi herself," Kakashi explained patiently.

"But..." Asami protested.

"I'm a miko, kids," Kagome explained, "Nothing you guys can throw at me can be any more frightening than what I have to deal with as a prerequisite just to do my job,"

"What do you mean?" Asami asked.

"I have to deal with violent and irritated youkai," Kagome admitted, waiting for the natural reaction of shock and awe.

Young eyes widened in shock and awe, as expected. Kakashi grinned inwardly.

"Alright. If there's no more questions then let's begin,"

Right off the bat Kakashi grabbed Kagome and leaped out of the path of several shuriken which embedded themselves into the dry ground. Kagome clung onto her fiancée, surprised by his sudden actions. Take dashed after them, kunai out and at the ready.

"So slow," Kakashi murmured.

"Watch out on your left," Kagome warned casually. Asami lept out of the trees and tried to ambush them. Kakashi left her pinned to a tree with her own kunai.

"Thanks," he smiled.

"No problem. You're supposed to be protecting me after all, right?"

"Duck,"

Kagome ducked and Kakashi caught Take and tossed the boy over his head to land in a heap. He caught Kagome's arm and the two vanished in a puff of smoke. They reappeared further into the forest on the thick branch of a giant tree.

"Whoa," Kagome's head reeled for a second and she clung to Kakashi's sleeve, "What was that?"

"Teleportation jutsu,"

"Neat!" she laughed, feeling giddy.

"Having fun?" he gazed down at her, wishing that he did not have to worry about his students for the moment.

Kagome nodded, "Having a lot of fun. It's been a while since I was around anyone who wanted to fight for me and could,"

"What about Shippou?" he asked. Kagome shook her head.

"He can't interfere unless he has my permission. That's why he assigned Kaori and Tateharu to me because if they're protecting me they're entitled to helping me out as their duty. They have to be allowed otherwise they can't do their job," she explained. "Sesshoumaru just doesn't want any more trouble than necessary,"

"So they get to fight with you because they're protecting you?" Kakashi asked, sorting it out in his mind.

Kagome nodded, "Because they are stopping rogue youkai from harming a miko is the official reason. It's the whole 'keep the interracial peace' idea,"

"Makes sense," Kakashi curled an arm around her waist and leapt to another tree. Kagome heard the dull thuds of something sharp and traveling at high velocity impacting with wood where they had been standing. "Huh, didn't think they'd find us that fast,"

"Good or bad?" Kagome asked, checking to make sure she still had the bells.

"Depends," Kakashi pushed her behind his back and blocked as Minoru sailed through the air, advancing recklessly.

Kagome waited patiently until Minoru was hogtied and gagged under a tree before speaking again, "Depends on what?"

Kakashi dusted his hands off, "On whether or not they understand the test,"

"I see," she smiled archly. "Well, that's two down,"

"One more to go,"

* * *

Kagome sighed and fingered the bells at her waist. Kakashi had taken out every one of his three potential students with hardly any effort and no weapons drawn on his part. Just watching their downfall was painful. Right now all three were sitting sullenly before Kakashi and Kagome, staring intently at the ground with Kakashi gazing down at them impassively.

"You all failed," he said after several tense minutes of silence.

"What!" came the compulsory whining complaint.

"You all failed to grasp the point of this exercise," Kagome sighed with longsuffering patience.

"To get the bells," Asami huffed, "What else could it be?"

Kakashi sighed and nodded to Kagome, giving her the go ahead to start a lecture. Kagome winked at her fiancée. She turned a sharp gaze back on the children, putting on her best 'abused patience' expression.

"Do any of you three know what happens to someone who tries to fight on his own?" she asked calmly, with little emotion other than studied curiosity.

The children looked a little puzzled. No one said anything. Kagome sighed again.

"If you don't already know then let me enlighten you. Most of the time they end up either getting their fool selves killed or injured so bad they might as well be dead. Not only can they hurt themselves but they run the risk of putting even more people in danger if they fail, which the likelihood is great. Even experienced and skilled jounin like Kakashi-san here don't go on missions without backup." she paused purposefully, "So, can anyone tell me what the point and purpose of this exercise was?"

Kaori seemingly appeared out of thin air, her hand waving madly in the air. She was jumping up and down with hardly leashed energy, making her many short petticoats bounce interestingly. "I know! I know! Oh pick me!"

"Hand down Kaori-san," Kagome sighed, unphased, "I wasn't asking you."

"Aww!" Kaori whined childishly, pouting.

"You're not even supposed to be here," Kakashi frowned at the female bodyguard.

"Why not? It's obvious these kids don't have a clue as to what you're talking about," she eyed the glowering children with aloof distaste. "I can't believe they missed such an elementary lesson,"

"I'll have a talk with the instructors later," Kagome promised, frowning.

"That's a good idea," Kakashi agreed.

"Will it make any difference?"

"You never know. We can hope," Kagome turned away from her bodyguard to face the children again, "So? Can you tell me what the point was?"

"Uh," Minoru worried at his lower lip hesitantly, "I want to say we had to work together but there are only two bells and three of us,"

"Give Minoru a prize!" Kagome beamed.

"There might be hope yet," Kakashi murmured.

"I don't understand!" Asami protested.

"When you work together and one person wins," Kakashi explained, "everyone wins. Shall we try this again?"

* * *

AN: I know, I know. Kakashi was probably way to nice to the kids. But Kagome was there and he couldn't just act the ogre around her, now could he? Not to mention he was SO showing off! Chapter 14/17 


	15. Meet the Family

Disclaimer and warning: I don't own anything from this story but the plotline. Inuyasha and Naruto characters belong to other people, not me. I write for the fun of it and if you don't like my work just remember that I'm not making you read this. Please keep flames to yourself. Compliments are welcome. Criticism is a little pointless because I'm not going to go back and edit anything in this.

Please enjoy the fruits of my labour.

* * *

**Chapter 15**

Meet the Family

Kagome fingered her shirt sleeve nervously. Her mother was scheduled to arrive today. Kakashi was loitering around one of the training grounds 'teaching' his students who, after being beaten with the proverbial two by four, passed the test. So, as per his job, he had to teach them. At very least give them a few pointers every once in a while.

He was probably taking a nap, she thought with amusement, not that she could blame him. What she wouldn't give just to curl up under her blankets and avoid this stress entirely.

But she had a duty, an obligation, to meet her mother at the Village gates. She couldn't very well let her family wander around the village looking for her, now could she? Of course she couldn't. So, here she was, waiting by herself, trying to ignore the appreciative gazes of the many guards. She almost felt like sticking her tongue out at them but decided against it.

She didn't want to give them ideas after all.

"Kagome!"

Kagome's head whipped around to face her caller. She grinned in sheer happiness.

"Souta! Momma! Grandpa!" she called, waving back and starting to jog towards them. They met in a clash of hugs and babbled greetings. Kagome wondered at how much Souta had grown since she had seen him last. Her grandfather demanded a report on how she was dealing with the local youkai. Her mother shushed grandpa and asked her where Kakashi was.

"Kakashi? He's teaching right now," Kagome said, "He'll join us for dinner though,"

"That will be wonderful," her mother sighed with a smile, "So I suppose we should find ourselves a hotel before we go much further, shouldn't we?"

"That might be an idea," Kagome agreed.

"But I'm hungry," Souta complained, "Can't we find something to eat _now_?"

"I'll show you the world's best ramen stand later if you wait," Kagome promised.

"Ramen?" Souta whined as they came up to the gate, "What's so great about ramen?"

"You'll see," she winked then turned to the gate guards, "The Higurashi family. They're already approved by Hokage-sama herself," she informed them.

"How long do you plan on staying?" asked the taller one as the shorter took down notes.

"Only a couple of days," Mrs. Higurashi decided, "We can't leave the shrine closed for too long after all,"

"You're family, Kagome-sama?" asked the taller.

"Here to meet Kakashi," she nodded.

"I have to approve the young man before the wedding, after all," Grandpa humphed.

They two guards stilled, "So," the shorter one looked stricken, "the rumors were true? You _are_ together with Hatake-san?"

Kagome blushed, "'Fraid so,"

"Darn," the taller sighed. "And here we had been hoping that that was just gossip. Well, congratulations. He's a good man,"

"That he is," Kagome agreed, "Have a good day!" she waved at the two as she led her family into the Village proper. The guards waved back before resigning themselves to the rest of the day knowing that the effervescent civilian was now off limits.

"They seemed nice enough," her mother commented.

Souta grinned, "They were sweet on you Kagome," he teased. Kagome wrinkled her nose at him.

"They didn't have a chance," she laughed, "Sorry, but I don't even know their names,"

"At least you are engaged to a human," grandpa sighed heavily. "He is human, right?"

"Yes, grandpa, Kakashi is one hundred per cent human," Kagome reassured him. "Much to Sesshoumaru's disappointment. I think he was hoping I'd mate a youkai just so I'd stick around and be useful for longer,"

Her mother and brother laughed but her grandpa could find nothing funny about the words. He disapproved of her manner in which she treated youkai. He was of the school that youkai were evil and must be taken care of. It had taken him ages to get used to Inuyasha. The idea of Kagome marrying a youkai must give him nightmares.

Poor old man. Wouldn't it just be perfect if Kakashi _was_ a youkai of some percentage. Kagome almost laughed at the thought. Then again, her mother always did – at least she did after meeting Inuyasha – want grandchildren with dog ears. Not happening, she sighed, sorry. Best she'd get was grandchildren with silver hair and a penchant for wearing masks on a daily basis. It was something she'd just have to settle for.

Kagome hoped she didn't mind too much.

"So where are we going?" Souta asked.

Kagome laughed apologetically, "To a flower shop. A couple of my friends work there and they should be able to point in the direction of a decent hotel,"

"Oh? Which ones?" her mother asked.

"Ino-chan and Choji-kun,"

* * *

The bell tinkled as Kagome pushed the door open, admitting herself into the Yamanaka Flower Shop. As usual the displays threatened to overflow and the alleyways between the flowers were almost too narrow to navigate. 

"Welco- oh, Kagome-chan," Ino smiled, "Don't you work at the shrine today?"

"Not today," Kagome shook her head and gestured towards her family, "My family just arrived from Tokyo and I wanted to ask you if you knew any decent hotels,"

"You're family?" Ino feigned surprise, "The elusive Higurashi family I've heard so much about?"

"That must be us," Souta laughed a little.

Ino came out from behind the counter and bowed politely, "I'm Akimichi Ino," she introduced herself, "It's nice to finally meet you all. Kagome talks about you often,"

"Kagome has told me much about you as well," Mrs. Higurashi smiled at her daughter's friend. "Is it true that this is a village of shinobi?"

Ino laughed, "I'm afraid so,"

"Are you a kunoichi?" Souta asked, his interest caught.

"Have been ever since I graduated from the academy although I'll be filing for maternity leave soon,"

Kagome smiled knowingly, "So, you and Choji finally got pregnant,"

"Yup," Ino grinned and held a protective hand over where her first child was growing, "I just found out yesterday,"

Kagome saw the child's aura nestled safely inside her mother's womb. "Way to go!"

"I haven't even told Choji yet since he got called out a couple days ago," she admitted.

"He'll be ecstatic," Kagome promised, "You know how he is around kids,"

"Why do you think I married him?"

"For his killer physique?" Kagome teased harmlessly.

"Oh, of course, what else?" Ino joked right back. People might find it hard to believe that a woman with looks like hers would willingly marry someone the size and weight of an Akimichi but Ino stood by her decision, stubbornly in love with the gentle giant. Goodness knows it was a good thing for her that she did marry him! She had been on the brink of anorexia before they had gotten involved but Choji just could not stand for that. Kagome teased Ino that she had married Choji because he could cook so well. It was a good thing he did. His hobby put some much needed weight on his wife.

"Well," Kagome shrugged, "Anyways, about that hotel..."

"Oh, right," Ino frowned thoughtfully, "I think the closest hotel to your apartment building is... oh, here, I'll draw you a map," she scooted back behind the counter a snatched up a piece of wrapping paper and a pen. With quick, sure strokes she sketched out a vague layout of the streets. When she had enough detail for her satisfaction she motioned for Kagome to come closer. It took only half a minute before Kagome was briefed in where the hotel was. Kagome thanked Ino and congratulated her again on her baby before following her family out of the little shop.

"She's hot," Souta commented.

"She's married," Kagome gave her younger brother an odd look, "And since when did you start noticing girls like that?"

"A while ago," Souta grinned, "I just never talked about them around you,"

"When did you grow up?" she whined, "You're supposed to be ten and crushing on that girl in your class not noticing other girls!"

"Hey! I'm sixteen now, Kagome," Souta scowled, "I'm not a little kid anymore,"

"I know, I know," Kagome sighed, "I just can't believe it,"

"Big Sister Syndrome," their mother sighed with a smile.

"Think she'll ever get over it?" Souta asked, ducking as Kagome tried to smack him over the head.

"Probably not," grandpa laughed, "Now, how much further to this hotel?"

"A couple of streets I think. It doesn't look all that far from my building. I've probably passed it before. Never had to pay attention to it before, I guess," she shrugged.

"How many times does that happen?" her mother laughed.

"Too often," grandpa laughed.

* * *

Later that evening Kagome and her family were sitting in the same restaurant that she had gone to with Shippou and Kakashi. They had arrived early so Kagome wasn't overly worried about Kakashi not being there. Yet. He did have a team to coach and she wasn't sure how much of his time it would take. 

"So," grandpa asked, frowning a little, "Where is this young man of yours?"

"He's not late yet, Grandpa," Kagome sighed with an amused smile. "He does have to teach you know. I don't know how long that takes. Besides, he's only passed one other team before and that was years ago,"

"Really?" Souta looked interested, "And how many have failed?"

Kagome shrugged, "I think he's tested one a year since Naruto-san, Sakura-chan and Sasuke-san gassed the chuunin exams,"

"Chuunin? Huh?"

"It's the next level up from a genin," Kakashi explained coming up behund Kagome. He placed a hand on her shoulder. "Hey Kagome-chan, sorry it took me so long,"

"You're not late," Kagome smiled up at him, "We were early. Here, sit down,"

Kakashi sat down in the empty chair beside Kagome and allowed Kagome to introduce him to her family. He nodded and smiled at the three members of Kagome's mother, grandpa and younger brother.

"It's nice to finally meet you, Hatake-san," Mrs. Higurashi smiled, "Kagome says that you are a instructor,"

"And a shinobi too," Souta added, leaning forward and resting his elbows on the table.

"Right on both accounts," Kakashi shrugged. "And she tells me that you run a shrine in Tokyo,"

"Have for generations." grandpa boasted.

"So how long have you known my sister? You know she's a freak right?"

Kagome smacked Souta upside the head. "Watch what you say brat,"

"I met Kagome when she moved here," Kakashi answered, ignoring the second comment. "A student of mine introduced us,"

"Naruto-san," Kagome supplied.

"So what do you teach? I mean, Kagome told us you're a shinobi, which is no big, but what kind of stuff do you teach?"

Kakashi regarded the boy with amusement. "What sort of things do you think a shinobi does?"

"I dunno, ninja stuff," Souta shrugged.

"Souta!" his mother reprimanded.

Grandpa laughed, "Children these days,"

"Ninja stuff," Kakashi sighed ruefully. "Ah, the uninformed,"

"Well, you guys do keep pretty much in the shadows, you know," Kagome shrugged.

"It's a survival trait," Kakashi said causticly, "It's better for everyone if we stay out of the world's way,"

"Yeah, but what do you do?" Souta pressed.

"I'm something of a mercenary, I guess. I accept contracted missions that have gone through the Hokage and execute them to the best of my abilities," he shrugged a little.

"Yeah, but what kind of stuff?"

"Right now I'm going to be supervising D-level missions that my students will be sent on." he shrugged, "Very tame and boring stuff,"

"D-level?"

"Finding cats and helping haul in fish,"

Souta looked skeptical, "You're kidding,"

"Not kidding," Kakashi grinned.

"Makes sense if you think about it," Kagome commented, "I mean, they have no marketable job skills and their training is only the basics really. They have to work their way up the ranks and build their skills,"

"Exactly,"

A waiter came up and asked if they were ready to order. He took their orders and left, slipping away like a shadow.

"So, Kagome says that the students you have now is only the second team you've passed. Why is that?" Kagome's mother asked.

"Because they all failed the test I gave them," he shrugged. "If they fail the test I can't allow them to become genin,"

"And what kind of test do you give them?" grandpa asked.

"A simple exercise in teamwork," Kakashi shrugged, "If they don't pick up on the point then they fail,"

"What's the catch?" Souta asked suspiciously.

"The catch is that the team is a three man team and Kakashi tells them that only two can pass," Kagome laughed.

"Why only two?" Souta frowned.

"Because there are only two bells and only the ones who can get a bell can pass," Kakashi grinned, "Or so I tell them,"

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"It means that the whole point of the test is whether or not they could get past their own selfishness and work together,"

"I get it! If you say only two can pass then your setting them up as competition against themselves,"

"Exactly,"

"Devious," grandpa commended.

"I try,"

"And you do it so well," Kagome laughed, "Even Shippou admitted that you were,"

"High praise," Souta commented.

"High praise indeed, coming from a kitsune," Mrs. Higurashi agreed. "They're the authorities on deviousness,"

"It is in their nature," grandpa sighed, "Although I wish you would stop associating with so many youkai, Kagome-chan,"

"Good luck grandpa," Kagome laughed, "I'm a magnet for youkai, good and bad,"

"Good thing too," Kakashi murdered.

"Yeah, Shippou and Sesshoumaru's family are all keepers, I have to admit," she smiled brightly,

"Defiantly not what I expected out of youkai, I'll admit," Kakashi scratched his nose ruefully. "Never in my life thought that I'd be calling a youkai a good person,"

"Why's that?" Mrs. Higurashi asked curiously.

"Long story," he sighed.

* * *

"I like him Kagome," Mrs. Higurashi said later that evening. Kagome and Kakashi had walked them to their hotel and Kakashi was currently being accosted by Souta who was firing a thousand questions at him at light speed. 

"I agree," grandpa said, "He seems to be a good man. Just what you need. A good, human man,"

Kagome rolled her eyes and smiled, "And what if he had been a youkai? Or even a hanyou?"

Grandpa sniffed disdainfully, "I can only thank the gods that he's not,"

"Well, I would have been happy either way," her mother sighed, "If I can't have grandchildren with cute puppy ears I guess I'll have to settle for silver hair,"

"I thought so," Kagome laughed, drawing Kakashi and Souta's attention.

"What's got her so amused?" Souta wondered aloud.

"Don't ask me," Kakashi shrugged, "I could tell you but I won't,"

"Why not?"

"Because I can," he taunted playfully. Souta pouted, wrinkling his nose at his sister's fiancée.

"You're no fun,"

"Sure I am. I'm just minding my own business," he shrugged again. "It's none of your business what they're talking about so there's no point in me telling you,"

"Spoil sport,"

Kakashi just smiled benignly. He just loved tormenting people. Call it a personal quirk but there was something so satisfying about poking people's buttons. Sheer, maddening sadistic pleasure, that's what it was. He knew it and admitted it.

"So when are you planning to get married?"

"When Kagome wants, I guess,"

"Betcha it'll be in the spring some time," Souta wagered.

Kakashi hitched up an eyebrow, "What makes you say that?"

"I know my sister," Souta grinned. "She's a springtime kind of girl,"

"Is she? Good to know,"

"Yeah," Souta shoved his hands in his pockets, "So, you're going to take care of her right? You're not going to hurt her?"

"Of course I wouldn't," Kakashi frowned, "Why would you think that I would betray her like that?"

"She's just been through a lot. She had a relationship that went bad and it nearly broke her," he sighed and stared at his sister's back for several long seconds, "He left her to... die for his past girlfriend. I used to think he was so cool, until he left her like that. When she got home she... she's never really been the same since. Although I have to admit that I haven't seen her this happy since before that happened,"

Kakashi smiled, "Good to know,"

"Treat her right and you'll stay on my good side," Souta promised.

"You have my word,"

* * *

"I like your brother," Kakashi commented, tucking Kagome under his arm as he walked her back to her apartment. 

"You do?" Kagome looked up at him, "Why? He's annoying,"

"He's inquisitive," he corrected. "And worried for you,"

"Worried?" Kagome looked surprised. Then her expression melted into a smile. "That little brat," she grinned.

"He is your brother, after all,"

"Point. Although most of the time you wouldn't believe what he puts me through,"

"But he cares," he pointed out, "No matter how much of a brat he seems to be at times,"

"He has grown up too," Kagome sighed, "I can't believe it. He's gotten so tall and he's even starting to sound mature,"

"He is, what? Sixteen?" Kakashi asked, "That's young for normal people, right?"

"Right," Kagome nodded, "Then again I can only hope he stays this young for a couple more years. If he stays clear from everything that I had to go through to grow up at that age then I have nothing else I could ask for,"

"Nothing?" Kakashi asked archly. Kagome grinned up at him.

"Well, almost nothing," she amended, "Nothing more for Souta, I guess,"

"Such a good sister," he laughed.

"Oh hush you," she laughed back, poking him in the ribs. He jumped a little in surprise.

"Hey!" he protested.

"Oh, you deserved it and you know it," she taunted impishly and slipped out from his grasp. She dashed down the street, laughing. Kakashi gave chase, feeling very playful at the moment. He allowed her to evade him for a block and a half before he decided to get a little more serious.

Surprisingly enough Kagome was able to escape him with more skill than he expected. Then again, he thought, she had been evading youkai for several years now. When it was put that way he shouldn't be all that surprised. Still, it made things more interesting. And interesting was Kagome's middle name.

Kagome dodged out his grasp one last time before his hands closed around her arms. He pulled her back into his embrace.

"Got you," he breathed, grinning triumphantly.

"So you did," she laughed, feeling a little out of breath. "What do you plan on doing about it?"

"Oh, I don't know," he pretended to consider the taunt. She twisted around in his grasp and turned her face upwards to look him in the eye. A wicked gleam lit up his expression. Kagome got suspicious.

"What are you planning?" she asked warily.

He grinned impishly. She flinched back, surprised when he tweaked her nose.

"Tag!"

* * *

AN: and a WAFF moment I love fluff. And if it weren't for the fight scenes this fic could be rated an adorable G. chapter 15/17 


	16. Together at Last

Disclaimer and warning: I don't own anything from this story but the plotline. Inuyasha and Naruto characters belong to other people, not me. I write for the fun of it and if you don't like my work just remember that I'm not making you read this. Please keep flames to yourself. Compliments are welcome. Criticism is a little pointless because I'm not going to go back and edit anything in this.

Please enjoy the fruits of my labour.

* * *

**Chapter 16**

Together at Last

The ceremony was beautiful. Kagome and Kakashi opted for a traditional wedding. Her grandfather had brought her grandmother's wedding kimono for her to be married in. He also conducted the ancient ceremony with pride. Everyone watched in amazed silence, and it wasn't just because Kakashi wasn't wearing his mask. The citizens of Konoha had never thought that this day would ever come, the day that Hatake Kakashi would actually commit himself to a woman for life. And Kagome's guests – her family, youkai friends, school friends and anyone else who rated an invite – were just so happy that Kagome, their happy little miko, had found someone who loved her back as much as she loved him.

Afterwards people congratulated the couple with laughter and jokes. Kagome and Kakashi took it all with practiced grace. Both of them couldn't wait to get away from the crowds but they understood that the reception was a necessary evil to endure.

"Never thought I'd see the day," Jiraiya laughed, clapping Kakashi on the shoulder. Kakashi almost stumbled under the heavy hand.

"What? Never thought you'd see me married?" he shot back, arching an eyebrow.

"You always were too much of a lone wolf,"

"Well," Kagome grinned, "Even wolves have to find a mate eventually,"

Kakashi smiled down at his new bride and for once his face was free of the mask he habitually wore, "You an expert on wolves too?"

"Why not?" she tossed back cheekily, "I did have a wolf trying to court me for something near five years of my life,"

"You're kidding." Kakashi pulled back and searched her face, trying to catch any hint that she was joking.

"Nope. Koga-kun's a good friend of mine but he wouldn't take a hint. I invited him but he declined. Guess seeing me married – or as he would put it, mated – to another would be too much. I really wish he'd hook up with Ayame-chan. She's been pining after him for more than five hundred years,"

"You're kidding," Kakashi said again.

Jiraiya was lost. "Five hundred... what?"

Kagome decided to, playfully, enlighten the Sanin. "I'm a miko. You may think my job is youkai extermination but that's not right. I just pick off the bad ones. The other ones, well, I have a son who's a kitsune and a very good friend who is Taiyoukai of these lands. According to Shippou-kun, my son, the only reason the whole Kyuubi affair happened was because Sesshoumaru-sama was out of town at the time otherwise he would have culled the upstart before he could have done anything," she shrugged, "Honestly he really wasn't that much of a big shot, he just thought he was. Anyways, Koga-kun is a wolf youkai that I've known since I was sixteen and he's been trying to get me to become his mate ever since the beginning,"

"I already don't like this guy," Kakashi frowned, ignoring Jiraiya's quite obvious shock.

"He's harmless. I haven't seen him since I threatened to shove a packet of purified wolfsbane down his throat," she smiled, "Probably one of my better ideas,"

"Good girl," Kakashi congratulated and leaned down to kiss her.

"Wait wait wait!" Jiraiya protested, "When was the last time you saw this wolf youkai? Was he in the Village?"

"Don't worry about Koga-kun," Kagome said after she had regained her mental equilibrium. "He's harmless. So are Shippou and, well, I guess I can't say Sesshoumaru-sama is harmless. He's a Taiyoukai after all. It's his job to be the ruthless and powerful warlord. But he won't kill any humans without just cause. He knows I'd be on his case if he did and he has too much respect for me," she laughed, "As youkai go you can't get much better,"

Jiraiya moped at his face with a handkerchief that Kakashi had handed him. "Just how many youkai do you know?"

Kagome thought about the question, frowning a little, "Quite a few. And I even met a lot of hanyou in my travels although I honestly couldn't tell you if they are still alive. Although I would love to see Shiori and Jinenji again. You really could never meet any sweeter people in the whole world,"

"And are they all... friendly?"

"Depends on what you mean by friendly," Kagome said innocently, "Youkai are raised with a completely different system of morals and culture than humans so it takes some practice sorting out what is meant as a friendly gesture and what isn't but," she smiled, "Simplified I guess you could say that the high-class youkai, the ones who have achieved the youma state, they're pretty blasé around humans. It's the middle-class and lower-class that tend to attack. They have less control over their instincts,"

"And we've had so many youkai in and out of the Village lately I think Hokage-sama might be retiring early and handing the reigns over to Naruto," Kakashi laughed, patting Jiraiya on the back, "Don't worry. Kagome's the best miko in the world. Bet she could even hold her own against Sesshoumaru-sama, and he's scary,"

Jiraiya looked shocked, "You met the youkai?"

"I've seen him fight. He and his wife are good people, I guess. It's a little hard to tell with him," Kakashi shrugged helplessly.

"He is a little..." she searched for the right word, "Unreachable? Über stoic? Icy Prince of the West?"

"Am I indeed, Miko-san?"

Kagome choked. Kakashi laughed nervously. Jiraiya almost passed out. "Sesshoumaru-sama? When did you get here?" she asked as she turned around to face the Taiyoukai in human guise.

"I've been here since the ceremony, as you already know," he sighed, frowning a little at her. His wife grinned, displaying inhumanly sharp canines.

"Congratulations you two. We knew you were meant for each other. If you need anything just call us. You have our number, don't you Kagome?" she said.

"Of course I do," Kagome smiled brightly, "Thank you so much for coming. You honor us with your presence," she bowed out of respect to the noble couple.

"It is our honor, Miko-san," Sesshoumaru said with only a hint of a smile, "This Sesshoumaru wishes you long life and many children,"

"As well as happiness and prosperity. May your children be as strong as your love for each other and bring honour to their parents," his wife finished the traditional youkai blessing.

Kagome bit her lip, smiling and trying to blink back tears that just came upon her suddenly. "I thank you for your good will. If you have need of a miko you know where I am,"

"And now my Lady and I have to leave. We have a flight to Fukuoka that we cannot miss," Sesshoumaru excused himself and his Lady politely before they left.

"And that was Sesshoumaru-sama and his Lady," Kakashi said casually to Jiraiya. The Sanin was nearly shaking with the aftereffects of being in the presence of two such Taiyoukai.

"Hey, is that who I think it is?" Kagome peered into the crowd.

"Hey! Momma!" Shippou strode over, grinning.

"Shippou-kun!" Kagome laughed and held her arms open for a hug. Her kitsune son scooped her up and swung her around, grinning like a madman, his Takemoto Hatsuharu facade in place.

"Congrats on getting mated before me," he said, putting her down. "Five hundred years and I think this is my first human mating ceremony,"

"Wedding ceremony," Kakashi and Kagome corrected. No one was paying attention to Jiraiya who was on the brink of having a nervous breakdown on the sidelines.

"Whatever, same thing when you get down to it," Shippou waved the correction aside, "Point is it's about time you mated. Married. Whatever. I've waited long enough to have little brothers and sisters,"

Kagome blushed bright red and Kakashi grinned lecherously. "We'll get right on that order," Kakashi promised.

"You do that," Shippou said with all seriousness. Why, Kagome moaned to herself, did she have to adopt a kitsune? Their entire species were genetically tuned to be mischief makers and the most sensuous creatures in creation. They had no shame and very little discretion.

"And what about, Shippou-kun? When are you going to find a nice kitsune girl to settle down with and give me some grandchildren? Or some pretty human?" Kagome asked. Shippou shrugged.

"Still waiting for the right one to show up. In the mean time I've got a couple of girlfriends that I see when I have time off of work," he smiled, "So far I don't think I could mate any of them,"

Kagome frowned at her son, "Are you two-timing those poor girls?" she demanded.

"Me?" Shippou was genuinely confused, "You can't two-time until your mated. And then why would you want to? Until then you're playing,"

Kagome sighed. Culture differences had just stepped in and blindsided her. She should have known better but no, she just had to walk right into it. "Right, sorry. When will you know if you have found the right girl?"

Shippou smiled brightly, "I'll just know. One of the blessings from Inari-sama for being one of her chosen children and messengers,"

"Handy," Kakashi nodded, impressed.

"She doesn't call on us often but I think the gift is probably the best thing she could give us," Shippou agreed, "So many others waste so much time testing the waters that often their One slips by while they're not paying attention,"

"Well," Kagome sighed, "good luck on finding your lady,"

"Thanks," Shippou hugged her once more, "And I promise I'll be back to visit some time next month. I'll be sure to clear a couple of days so I have plenty of time," he kissed Kagome on the cheek and winked at Kakashi, his adopted mother's new husband. "Don't waste too much time while I'm gone. I want a sib before too long you know!" and with that he laughed and escaped into the throng of guests before Kagome could reprimand him for his lack of subtlety.

"I can't believe I raised such a... a... _Gah!_" she shook her head, "But he's better than most kitsune I guess,"

"And how many kitsune do you know anyways?" Kakashi asked out of curiosity.

"A couple. I met this one, a thief, a couple years back. He wasn't interested in..." her eyes flicked over to Jiraiya, who was just starting to breath normally again, "In what I was protecting. No, he was only interested in one thing." She snorted, "You have never met temptation until you come across a full grown kitsune who has decided that you look like a fun bedmate. I think I left him with a nice black eye and pinned to a tree by his clothing,"

"He didn't touch you, did he?" Kakashi looked upset.

Kagome took his hand in hers and smiled. "Of course not. While Yoko put up quite the seduction I promised my mother I would wait until I was married. Even _his_ skills couldn't make me break my promise,"

"Good," Kakashi smiled smugly. Kagome snorted and turned away from him. She almost smiled when she felt her new husband's arms circle around her shoulders and pull her back against his chest. "You about ready to get out of this party and do some celebrating of our own?"

Kagome grinned, "I was wondering when you'd get around to suggesting that line of attack Kakashi,"

* * *

AN: Poor Jiraiya. ...okay, done pitying him. They're hitched! Yay! Next up: the epilogue. Chapter 16/17 


	17. Epilogue

Disclaimer and warning: I don't own anything from this story but the plotline. Inuyasha and Naruto characters belong to other people, not me. I write for the fun of it and if you don't like my work just remember that I'm not making you read this. Please keep flames to yourself. Compliments are welcome. Criticism is a little pointless because I'm not going to go back and edit anything in this.

Please enjoy the fruits of my labour.

* * *

**Epilogue**

Eight years later

"Daddy!" called the oldest Hatake daughter, "Daddy tell us a bedtime story,"

"Why can't mommy tell you a story, Maia?" Kakashi asked from the doorway of the children's room.

"Because you were telling us a story last night, Daddy, and you didn't finish it," Maia said seriously. Kagome finished tucking in their youngest and shot her husband an amused glance.

"She's got you there you know,"

Kakashi sighed and resigned himself to his fate. "Alright then," he said, settling down on the foot of the bed that Maia and her younger sister, Sango, shared.

"I'll go finish up the dishes," Kagome said as she slipped out of the room, "Good night you three,"

"Night Mommy," Maia and Sango called. Tatsuha just stared after her from his crib, too young to talk yet.

"Alright, you two know the drill. Lie still and I'll tell you a story," Kakashi sighed heavily, making himself comfortable, keeping a studious eye on his children, "Where did I leave off yesterday?"

"The handsome ninja had just rescued the princess from the evil warlord-wannabes," Maia said. Sango nodded agreement.

"That far? Hmm, well alright then. Let's see. The handsome ninja decided that it would be best if he joined some of the princess's friends to fight against the people who hired the evil warlord-wannabes. The princess had many very powerful friends that loved her very much and were very upset at what had happened to her. Her friends were ready to leave with the handsome ninja but he managed to convince them to let him come as well since he loved the princess very much,"

"Enough to marry her?" Sango asked.

"Even more than that," her father nodded, "But the princess's friends did not want the ninja to come along with them because they did not think that he would be able to protect himself against the dangerous people that hired the evil warlord-wannabes. It wasn't until the ninja showed them a magic sword that the princess had given him that they agreed,"

"A magic sword? What did it do?" Maia breathed in awe.

"Hush and you'll find out," Kakashi reprimanded her gently, "When the princess's friends saw the magical sword they let the ninja come too. See, the magical sword was only to be given to the one person that the princess trusted more than life itself. It was made to protect her. And since the handsome ninja had the sword the princess's friends were honour-bound to let him come. It took them days to track down the evil person that wanted to hurt the princess so much and when they did find him the ninja was surprised. For the person they were hunting looked just like any good prince out of the tales. But he wasn't. No, this villain was as bad as they come. The princess's friends wanted to kill the villain but the ninja knew that if the princess heard about that she would be very sad. The last thing he wanted was for her to be sad. So he proposed that they try something different," he paused dramatically. "He had found out as they were traveling that the magic sword the princess had given him could do many things a normal sword could not. When the princess's friends were talking about what they would do to the villain the sword was talking to the handsome ninja. The sword told the ninja a way to deal with the villain in a way that would not make the princess sad,"

"What?" Sango breathed, eyes wide.

"I'm getting to that," Kakashi said dryly. "Anyways, when they had the villain all tied up so that he could not get away the handsome ninja asked if he could be the one to exercise judgment on him. The princess's friends did not really want to let anyone else deal with the villain but they let the ninja anyways. The handsome ninja drew his sword and did something that no one else could do,"

"What did he do, Daddy?" Sango asked, itching to sit up and crawl over into her father's arms.

"The handsome ninja and the magical sword Hogosha wiped the villain's memories clean and turned him back into a baby. He then gave the baby to the villain's brother and sister to care for and raise right since the brother and sister were good people who had no part in their brother's wrongdoing. This way the villain could not hurt the princess anymore and the princess would not be sad that someone was hurt because of her, even if they had hurt her quite a bit. Everyone was happy and the handsome ninja went back to his princess and they were married very soon after and lived happily ever after." he stood and kissed his daughters on their foreheads, "Now go to sleep you two," he brushed tender fingers through the fine baby hair that dusted Tatsuha's scalp, "You too, kid,"

"Night Daddy," Maia and Sango said as he closed the door to their room.

Kakashi flipped off the hallway light and padded silently through the dark living room to the glow that emanated from the kitchen. The radio was playing a soft tune that had Kagome swaying lightly as she dried the last of the pots used for the evening meal. He leaned against the door frame and watched as his wife of the better part of ten years danced to the music, her hips swaying in time and how her short hair brushed her shoulders. She was so beautiful, his Kagome.

He grinned when he realized that she still had not sensed him. Testing his luck he crept up behind her. It wasn't until he had his arms around her shoulders and was deftly plucking the pot and towel from her hands did she realize she wasn't alone.

"The girls asleep?" she asked, twisting her head around to smile at her husband.

"I think they're plotting what mischief they'll get into tomorrow at school," he shrugged and kissed her full on her lips, one of his hands dropping down to splay protectively over her pregnant middle, "Think we'll be able to survive?"

"Hope so," Kagome giggled a little, "What about Tatsuha?"

"Doing a fine impersonation of a very adorable log,"

"Maia's instructor at the academy visited today," she said, trying to ignore the fact that Kakashi was paying quite a bit of attention to her neck, "Apparently she's an 'unexpected' repeat of Lee-kun,"

That got Kakashi's attention, "No chakra?"

"None that anyone at the academy can see. I was thinking that we should let her continue taking classes but request that she be excused from practicing jutsu," Kagome suggested, "Either Lee-kun or I could train her in her holy heritage instead. Lee should be back from that mission that Sesshoumaru requested a priest for soon after all,"

"Sounds good to me," he turned his attention back to her neck, working up to her ear. Kagome squeaked.

"Don't you have to leave early in the morning?" she asked, trying to distract him from his pursuit.

"So what?"

"You should get some sleep,"

"Only if you're with me,"

"What about the dishes?"

"They'll be there in the morning," Kakashi steered his wife through the house towards their bedroom and said imperiously, "Come woman, I demand you pay attention to your neglected husband,"

"Neglected my fanny. What do you thing you are doing Hatake-san?" Kagome mock frowned. Kakashi kissed her anyways.

"Having my wicked way with you, of course,"

"Oh, well in that case," Kagome turned into her husband's embrace and submitted entirely to his will.

His princess. Her handsome ninja. Their happily-ever-after.

"Oh, by the way, Shippou called and said that he's bringing his family over next week,"

And all the strange in-laws that came with the princess.

Owari

* * *

AN: and there you have it. My first KakaKago romance. Sequel is on the way.

* * *

'Shippou's Romance' Preview: 

_'Why don't you have a girl yet, Shippou-kun?'_ Kagome's voice echoed through his mind in a relentless circle. He sighed and informed his secretary via the intercom that he would not be taking any calls or visitors, clientèle or otherwise. Like the good little employee she was she agreed instantly asked if he wanted his schedule cleared. In the matter of a few minutes Shippou's schedule was empty. He leaned back in his wonderfully comfortable chair and draped a hand over his eyes, allowing his human illusion to drop in the knowledge that his battle-axe of a secretary would die before she allowed anyone through his office doors.

"You're five hundred years old and counting old man," he muttered to himself, "Have you been doing something wrong for Inari-sama to have refused you a mate for so long?"

So he wasn't all that old in a youkai sense but even for youkai half a millennia was a long time to go without getting mated. His adopted mother had no idea how close to home her words had struck him. She had found her mate and was now doting on their first child, a daughter. Maia was adorable, tugging at Shippou's heart and dredging up his longing to be a father himself, something he had stamped down centuries ago.

But now he had a 'little sister' to drag back all his old desires.

With a small smile Shippou dug out his cell phone and flipped through the directory. Finding the desired number he selected it and waited for the connection to go through. It rang three times before it was picked up.

"_Hello?"_ Boy, she sounded tired. He hoped he hadn't woken her up from a nap or something.

"Hey momma," he greeted, "I didn't wake you up, did I?"

"_Shippou-kun?"_ Kagome suddenly seemed more awake, _"No, don't worry about me. How are you doing? Do you need anything?"_

Ever the caring one, he smiled to himself. "No, I'm fine. Work's keeping me busy enough, I guess. How are you doing?"

He heard Kagome sigh, _"I'm fine. Tired, but that's normal. I haven't been sleeping all that well since Kakashi left on that long-term mission a week back."_

She sounded worried. Not unexpected when a mated couple is separated. "Do you know when he'll be back?"

"_Not for another week at the least,"_ she tried – too hard – to sound normal. The worry leaked through anyways. He had centuries to learn how to read people by voice alone – handy when talking on the phone. He did not have to see his mother know what she was feeling.

"You're worried," he stated.

"_Of course I am,"_ At least she did not try to deny the fact. _"He's out risking his life and I can't do a blessed thing about it,"_

"He'll be fine," Shippou assured her, "He has a family to come home to,"

"_He'd better come back. I refuse to conduct his funeral ceremony,"_ she snorted.

"Good. Keep thinking like that. By the way, how's Maia-chan doing? My little sister doing her big brother proud?"

"_Unfortunately. You know, I really think letting you babysit that one time was a mistake. She's acting too much the kitsune for the well-being of my nerves,"_ Now Kagome laughed, _"You really should see her. Kakashi's been teaching her how to throw kunai – blunted of course. She's really good! Even though she's only almost three she's already been accepted into the Academy. Oh! Shippou-kun, I have news,"_ She sounded excited, on the edge of her seat excited.

"What is it? Good news?"

"_You can't tell Kakashi. I just found out yesterday that I'm expecting another baby,"_

"Really? How far along are you?" This was good news. He couldn't stop himself from grinning like a fool.

"_Only about a month. It was the morning sickness that tipped me off."_ She laughed brightly, _"Won't Kakashi be surprised when he comes home!"_

"Oh hey," Shippou sat up, "That reminds me, do you have any plans for next week?"

Kagome was silent, thinking, _"I don't think I have much of anything planned,"_ she said slowly, _"Why?"_

"Mind if I come up for a visit?" he asked, "The office is starting to get to me,"

"_Not a problem!"_ he could _hear_ her smile, _"I'll get your room ready. When can I expect you?"_


End file.
